Hidden Secrets
by YamiShiningFriendship
Summary: DARKSHIPPING! Bakura's back, and before he can adjust again Ryou brings home Yami and Yugi for a visit. Now Bakura has to keep his true identity a secret among other things...Please RR! YB, SJ, MM Chapter 19 up.
1. Twins

YSF: hi. as you may recognize this fic, it's my good friend Angel's fic. I have her full permission to post it since she took it down from her name

BAkura: Oh ra...

YSF: Hush Kura...

yes, this is going to be circled mainly around a Bakura/Yami relationship...But I might do a little more pairing elsewhere. Who knows.

Okay...So here's how its gonna be:

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Bakura-Royko/

/Bakura-Royko to Ryou/

\Yugi to Yami\

\Yami to Yugi\

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or the charecters. I just own this particular plot...Well, part of it. ; A friend helped me with it as well.

Hidden Secrets; Chapter One 

Bakura laid on his bed, waiting for Ryou to get home from school. _'Dear Ra...I've only been back from the Shadow Realm for a few days and already I'm running out of things to do inside this house,' _he thought.

He checked the clock again; his hikari would be home at any moment now and hopefully it would give him something new to do when he did. Hearing the door open, Bakura shot to a stand and headed downstairs.

"I'm home!" Ryou's voice rang out through the house, followed by another's, which made Bakura stop in his tracks. He stood on the bottom step of the staircase. His hikari had brought home guests.

"Who're you talking..." Yami trailed off when he saw Bakura, his eyes widening before he looked at Yugi, who looked equally surprised.

Ryou, realizing his mistake in bringing Yugi and Yami home with him so soon after the return of his darker half, bit his lip and quickly moved over to where Bakura was standing dumbfounded on the staircase and grabbed his wrist, pulling him over to Yami and Yugi. "Uh...this is my twin, he just moved here from..."

Bakura's eyes widened as he stared in disbelief at his hikari. /Ryou, what are you thinking/

/Just play along. Please? Unless you want Yami to send you back to the Shadow Realm/

/Alright, I'll play along, but what am I supposed to say! If you think I'm going to be nice to the Pharaoh, you've got another thing coming./

/You have no choice at the moment, 'kura./

Bakura sighed, shaking his head before putting on his best smile and nodding at the two, finishing Ryou's sentence. "From England. Hello...I'm Royko," he said in a shy voice, with a faint touch of a British accent.

/Royko? Where'd you get that from/

/I don't know. It just came to me. Not that you were of any help though. Thanks a lot, hikari./

Ryou didn't reply, just smiled sweetly at him through the silence that followed, before turning to look at the two before them.

Yugi, who was always happy to make a new friend, was the first to speak up, "Nice to meet you Royko, I'm Yugi." He smiled brightly, before glancing too Yami, who looked stunned. "And this is Yami."

Coming out of his trance Yami smiled weakly. "It's a pleasure to meet you Royko," he stated softly, holding out a hand to shake. Royko...he was beautiful. He seemed to have a confident air about him under the mask of shyness he seemed to be hiding behind now.

Glancing at Ryou, 'Royko' took Yami's hand in his own, sharing a firm and yet somehow calm handshake. He couldn't help but smile softly at Yami's grip. He quickly released his grip on Yami's hand, pulling his hand back as he turned towards the stairs. "I'm sorry. I have a few things I need to do, so if you'll excuse me..." With that he ran up the stairs and into his room, closing the door behind him and leaning against it. 'Dear Ra, what have I gotten myself into?'

Sighing, he pushed himself off the door and moved over to his dresser, which he shuffled through for some clothing. Maybe a shower would help him calm down. Nodding to himself, he slipped down the hall with his things and into the bathroom.

---Back Downstairs---

Yugi watched as Royko ran upstairs, thinking for a moment before frowning. "Hey, Ryou?"

"Uhm, yes, Yugi?" The white haired teen bit his lip as he turned to face his best friend, smiling nervously.

However, before Yugi could, Yami voiced the questions that had been tugging on both of their minds. "Why didn't you tell us before that you had a twin? And why has he been living in England all these years?"

"Oh, uhm, well, it's complicated, really..." Ryou didn't know what to say, so instead he decided to change the subject. "So, would you two like some tea?" he asked, heading towards the kitchen as Yami sat on the couch, thinking.

"Sure. Here, I'll help you." Yugi smiled, heading into the kitchen with Ryou, to let his dark side think.

"Oh, thanks, Yugi."

"No problem. So...wanna tell me what's really going on here?" Yugi smiled. He may seem naive, but he wasn't as dense as one would think. He knew his best friend well and was sure that there was something more going on then Ryou was letting be known.

"What do you mean, Yugi? There's nothing going on other than what I just told you."

Yugi sighed, but nodded. He wouldn't press the matter right now. He knew that Ryou would tell him when he was ready to.

--------------------------------------------------------

Yami rubbed his forehead, Royko seemed so familiar...he had even mistook him for the Tomb Robber at first until Ryou introduced him as his twin, but who would've thought that Ryou would have a twin? Or even a brother for that matter. Something seemed wrong though... The way that Royko had suddenly left the room after meeting he and his hikari seemed as if he were intimidated. _'Maybe I did something wrong?'_

Yugi and Ryou came out of the kitchen, Yugi carrying two cups, one of which he handed to Yami as he sat down next to him. Ryou sat in a armchair next to the couch.

"Yami, are you ok? You look tired." Ryou frowned, watching the former Pharaoh with a worried expression written all over his face, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

"Huh? Oh, yes. I'm fine Ryou. Just tired is all. I think I'll go wash my face. Excuse me." Yami stood, heading up the stairs and towards the bathroom, where he bumped into none other then Royko.

"Oh!" Royko stumbled backwards, falling backwards onto the ground as Yami stumbled back against the wall. _'Blasted Pharaoh...'_ Neither had been paying much attention to their surroundings and so both were caught off guard by the other's sudden appearance.

"Oh dear. I'm so sorry. I didn't see you..." Yami took a step forward and kneeled beside the white haired teen, offering his hand to help Royko up.

"It-It's fine. Don't worry about it, Yami." Taking the hand that was held out in front of him, and with a little help from Yami, Royko managed to pull himself back up into a stand, dusting himself off. "What about you? Are you alright?"

Yami smiled and nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. Once again, I apologize for being so careless." Blinking, he reached over to Royko's face, pushing a stray strand of hair back behind his ear. "There. Much better."

Royko felt his face heat up a bit as Yami did this. "It's quite alright...Yami," he replied softly, before turning in the direction of his room. But before he could even take so much as a step, Yami caught his wrist.

"Hey, would you like to, uhm...come over to my and Yugi's place tomorrow? I mean, for a little get together Yugi planned... You could meet the rest of the group there." Yami bit his lip, praying silently that the answer would be yes.

Royko frowned, glad his face was out of Yami's view. /Ryou.../

/What is it, 'kura/

/Yami just invited me over to their place tomorrow. For a gathering with the rest of your little group/

/Oh. He did? Well I guess you're coming with me then./

/Wait. You just assumed that I'd say yes/

/You're dying to get out of the house. Admit it./

At this, Bakura didn't answer. He simply gritted his teeth before forcing a smile onto his face and turning to face Yami. "Of course I'll come. I'd love to meet Ryou's other friends." He did his best to sound excited.

Grinning, Yami nodded, letting go of his grip on Royko's wrist. "Okay. I guess I'll...see you then."

Nodding, Royko turned and headed down the hall, smirking. _'Just because I'm not going after the puzzle anymore doesn't mean that I can't play with the Pharaoh's mind a bit... This should be fun.'_


	2. Lunch

Alright. the first 15 chapters will be put up relatively quickly since i don't have to do much editing. Just so returning readers to this fic know, Angel will still be helping, she's just taking the backseat. Most of the chapters will stay the same, they'll just flow better...

Once again: 

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Bakura-Royko/

/Bakura-Royko to Ryou/

\Yugi to Yami\

\ Yami to Yugi\

And bring on the disclaimer!

...Check last chapter, the disclaimer is too tired to repeat that she doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh or the cast in any way.

The Gathering; Part One 

"Bakura we're going to be late if you don't hurry!" Ryou called up the stairs, waiting for his yami to finish getting dressed. 

"I'm well aware of that. Why do you think I'm taking my time?" The 5000 year old spirit's voice carried down to him, sounding a bit frustrated. "I can't decide what to wear."

"When did you start caring about what you look like?" Ryou sighed, at this rate they'd be lucky to get out of the house before everyone left for the restaurant at noon.

"When I became your twin." Bakura had been shuffling through his clothing for a few hours by now, trying to find a outfit that wouldn't give him away and that he had some taste for.

Finally deciding on a pair of leather pants and a skin tight black shirt he tossed the rest of his clothing back into the closet carelessly and threw on the outfit, examining himself in the mirror for a moment before Ryou yelled again for him to hurry. "Alright, alright. I'm coming," he sigheded, slipping on his ring and concealing it under his shirt before placing his deck into his pocket and heading downstairs where Ryou stood waiting by the door.

"Took you long enough. Nice outfit, Royko." His hikari smiled softly at him, waiting for him to get his shoes on before they both step outside and headed towards the Mouto residence.

"Thanks. So...What's the plan for today again? How long do I have to put up with those idiots?" Royko asked.

"Well, after everyone gets to Yugi's place we're all going out to lunch, and then I think to the arcade..." Ryou replied thoughtfully, ignoring the idiot comment.

---Mouto residence---

Yami paced the room silently, thinking. Everyone else had arrived, well, everyone but Ryou and his brother. _'Dear Ra what's taking them so long?'_

"Uhm...Yami? Earth to Yami!" Kaiba stepped in front of his rival, stopping him in his tracks. "Are you going to answer me?"

"Eh? Answer what Kaiba?" Yami replied calmly, looking puzzled and slightly annoyed at being pulled out of his thoughts.

_'Still don't understand why I have to be the one doing this...' _Seto sighed and shook his head, leading Yami away from the others. "I asked you where you wanted to go for lunch. Are you ok? You seem kinda out of it."

Yami blinked, did Kaiba just ask him if he was ok? Yami shook his head, sighing. "I'm fine Kaiba. And I don't care where we go...Whatever Yugi said is fine by me."

"Alright.." Kaiba nodded, returning to where Yugi was waiting for the confirmation on where they were going for lunch.

At that moment there was a knock on the door. Yami rushed to answer it, smiling when he saw Royko and Ryou had finally arrived.

"Sorry we're late, _someone_ decided to wage war on his clothing." Ryou said, glancing at Royko, who in turn smiled innocently.

"What? I wanted to make a good first impression." Royko did his best to sound hurt, before following Yami inside to the living room where the rest of the group was waiting for them.

"Ok, now that everyone's here I'd like you all to meet Ryou's brother, Royko." Yami announced as they entered the room, motioning a hand to Royko who had entered right behind him.

"Oh, hello." Royko waved lightly, stepping back a bit so that he was next to Ryou. /Are you sure they're going to fall for this/

/Of course they will 'kura. If Yami believes it then they're bound to./ Ryou smiled, waving to everyone before pulling his 'brother' further into the room.

/If you say so./ Royko sighed quietly to himself, waiting for the awkward silence to be broken by someone.

Unfortunately for Royko, that someone just happened to be Tea. "Don't all speak at once..." She stated sarcastically to the others before smiling at Royko. "I'm Tea, it's a pleasure to meet you Royko. I had no idea that Ryou had a brother."

"Neither did we." Yami stated matter-of-factly. "It seems Ryou left out that little detail." Although Yami's voice gave off a slightly cold air to it, his expression showed nothing but amusement for the situation.

"Oh. Well then, I'm sure we'll become great friends," Before Tea could finish she was interrupted by Kaiba, and couldn't help but smile. She had been hoping that someone else would speak up.

"Oh please, don't start with your friendship speeches. I'm sure Royko doesn't want to listen to that nonsense." Kaiba stated coldly, pushing off the wall he had stationed himself against to walk over to Royko, offering his hand. "Seto Kaiba, and this is my brother Mokuba." He motioned over to where Mokuba was sitting on the couch.

Smiling Royko took Kaiba's hand and shook it before turning to Mokuba and nodding. Mokuba waved lightly in return.

After everyone else had introduced themselves, and exchanged a few words (most of which were comments on his clothing) silence fell again and Royko took the chance to speak up.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all, I've heard so much about you from Ryou." He smiled, making a subconscious note to never accept a invitation again. They had only been there for a few minutes and already he was getting bored.

"Wish we could say the same bud." Joey replied, before standing. "Alright if everyone's here then why are we all still hanging around here? Let's go get some food!"

"Down dog. We have to wait for the limo to get here before we go anywhere." Kaiba replied coldly, smirking.

"Whadd'ya call me Kaiba!" Joey practically yelled, jumping to a stand in rage.

The CEO smirked, it was so fun to tease the puppy. "Just calm down." He stated, standing himself, but instead of starting a fight with Joey he turned and headed out the door. "Ride's here."

---------------------------------------

After everyone had piled into the back of Kaiba's limo they headed over to the chosen restaurant, everyone talking idly between themselves. Yugi and Yami seemed to be exchanging a silent conversation, Kaiba and Joey were continuing the fight from before, and Ryou, Tristian, and Tea were all chatting about Duel Monsters. Which left Royko to think to himself silently.

Unfortunately though, this was short lived. Why you ask? Well because not more then a few moments into the ride had Yami moved over to where Royko was sitting staring out the window. "So...Having any fun?"

"Hm? Oh...I guess so. Hasn't been too eventful yet, has it?" Royko replied idly, turning his head to look at Yami, smiling.

"That's true...Well, it'll get better, I'm sure." After a few moments of silence between the two, Yami spoke again. "So, Ryou told me that he filled you in on my...uhm...Current situation?"

Royko blinked, stunned for a moment on what to say. /Ryou...His current situation? Would that be him being gay or him being a 5000 year old Pharaoh/

/The Pharaoh one./

/Ok, thanks./ Blinking once more Royko nodded, smiling. "Yes, he told me."

"And...You don't find that strange?" Yami bit his lip after he finished speaking, looking almost hopeful.

"Well, maybe a bit, who wouldn't? But it's not like it freaks me out or anything." Royko smiled weakly, before adding in a afterthought. "You know...Ryou also said something about a tomb robber spirit..."

Frowning, Yami glanced towards Yugi, who was now engaged in the conversation with Ryou, Tristian and Tea.

"Well, yes. The spirit of the ring, however, is in the shadow realm." His voice was dark a bit, and he looked down.

"Oh...Shame..I was hoping to meet him, is there any chance that he might come back?" Royko asked, doing his best to look innocent about the situation.

Yami chuckled, shaking his head. "No, there's no chance what-so-ever. And even if there was, I'd send him strait back. You see, the tomb robber is evil. Bent on stealing all the Millennium items."

Ryou, hearing the conversation between his dark and Yugi's, turned to face them and spoke up, "He's not that bad you know. You make him sound like he has no heart Yami. I think that if he were to come back you should at least give him a second chance."

Yami just scoffed, but before he could reply the limo stopped and announced that they had reached the restaurant, and everyone piled out of the car.

Royko looked around in fake awe at the restaurant as some waiters pushed a few tables together for them all to sit at. Everyone arranged themselves around the table, and much to Royko's dislike, Yami ended up sitting next to him.

_'What is it with the Pharaoh today? He's been acting too friendly towards me...Although I do kind of like it.'_ Bakura's eyes widened and he shook his head hard, mentally slapping himself. _'I did not just think that! There's nothing about the Pharaoh that I like!'_

"Royko? Are you alright?" Yami asked, watching the white haired boy with a worried expression on his face.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Sorry...Just..."

"MONEY BAGS GET THIS THING OFF ME!" Joey jumped up from the table where, amazingly, he had been sitting next to the burnette CEO. Every eye in the room turned to the blonde, who was now sporting a dog collar. How Kaiba had managed to get it around Joey's neck was beyond anyone.

Kaiba just chuckled and reached up, pulling the blonde back down into his seat. "Just eat mutt. Then we'll discuss your new collar." He replied, sending a cold glare at the other tables who were staring at them, causing them all to quickly return to their meals.

Royko stifled a laugh, quickly taking a drink of his water before he felt movement beside him. Glancing over to his side he saw that Yami had risen, and was staring angrily at the CEO, with a murderous look in his eyes. Appearently he didn't like Kaiba's 'present' to Joey.

That's what made Royko move, thinking quickly he came to the only conclusion he could find (that didn't involve him having to drag the Pharaoh out of the room by his hair), and stood, pulling Yami into a passionate kiss.

What happened next wasn't something Royko expected, _Yami was kissing him back. _Slowly the two sat back down, holding the kiss all the way down before they broke apart, both staring at each other in shock. The rest of the group was staring at them.

----Ryou and Bakura's mind conversation----

/You..._KISSED_ him. You _kissed Yami_./ Ryou sounded completely shocked, yet somehow amused.

/I..I didn't want him to kill Kaiba! I mean that egomaniac CEO is my only provider of sanity other then you/

/Oh, yes, I'm sure./

----End Conversation----

Royko didn't reply, he just kept staring at Yami, who looked completely dazed.

This might have been because he was talking with his hikari as well.

----Begin Yami and Yugi's conversation----

\ He kissed me!\

\Yes, Yami. He kissed you.\ Yugi sounded rather bored, he had been listening to Yami talk about how beautiful he thought Royko was ever since they had left Ryou's house the day before.

\I...I can't believe it! He kissed me!\

\Yami, stop freaking out, Royko's starting to look worried.\

----End Conversation----

That snapped Yami out of his 'daze' and he looked back at Royko, who was wearing a slightly scared expression on his face. "You're not going to faint are you?" He asked Yami, trying his best to sound worried. He was, of course, only teasing.

Yami chuckled, shaking his head. "No, I'm not. Are you?"

"No...I'm not going to." Royko smiled softly, looking back down at his plate before glancing up at the table that was staring at the two of them. Giving them all a look that made them return to their food, Kaiba laughing silently to himself.

Yami couldn't help but nod, smirking softly. The kiss reminded him of something that he had shared with the spirit of the ring awhile back. It hadn't been a true, purposeful kiss. Their hikari's had made a bet with the two, which they ended up losing, and, well..You can imagine what they had to do afterwards. Yup, they had to kiss each other.

----Yet another Conversation between Yami and Yugi----

\ Hey Yugi...You remember that bet you and Ryou made with me and the thief?\

\giggle Yes.\

\ Well...I could swear, now that I think about it...Royko kisses just like..Bakura.\

\You really think so?\

\ Yes...\

\Oh, Yami. I know what's going through your head. What are you going to do if Royko is Bakura?\

\ Well...Nothing. At the moment anyway.\

\Uhm...Ok..I'm not going to ask Yami.\

----End conversation----

So...There's that chapter. 

Yami: He kissed me! You put a kiss so soon into the story!

Uh...Yea. Hey, I thought you were happy.

Yami: Uhm...I am...but...

Yugi: Oh stop pestering her Yami.

Yami: sigh Fine.

Ryou: Please R/R!

Ba---Royko: Yes. Angel put over 2000 words into this chapter! Talk about overkill.

Hey! Just remember that I determine how this story turns out Royko!

Royko: Uhm...You know I was just kidding, right?

bickering gets softer and softer until silence settles, marking the end of the pointless words


	3. Arcade

I'm having fun with editing...and i also love the reviews. Thank you! So i figure, it'll take me about two weeks to get this all back up if i continuemy one chapter a day habit...so maybe tonight i'll post a few more. i wanna see if i can get a chapter 16 up by easter...yesI know it's a tough deadline...Anyway...

Once again: 

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Royko-Bakura/

/Royko-Bakura to Ryou/

\Yugi to Yami\

\ Yami to Yugi\

Disclaimer: If I owned YuGiOh I wouldn't be sitting here writing Fanfics, now would I?

The Gathering Part 2; The Arcade 

As the group walked down the street, chatting amongst themselves, Joey was trying to convince Kaiba into taking off the dog collar that he had so sneakily latched around the blonde's neck at lunch. He hadn't even thought to look at what the tag said, but then again from the smug look on the CEO's face he didn't really want to know.

"Why would I want to take the collar off you? It fits you so well, pup," Kaiba smirked. He and Joey were walking well behind the rest of the group in order to talk...or argue, in private.

Joey growled at this, tugging at the collar. He had no idea how to get it off, but he had the faintest memory of Kaiba slipping some sort of key into his pocket soon after he had gotten it on Joey. "Look, moneybags. Get this thing off me or else..."

"Or else what, pup? You going to bite your master?" The brunette's smirk became even more noticeable as he said this.

"THAT DOES IT!" The next second Joey and Kaiba had gone from walking aside one another to on the pavement, with Joey on top, in a sort of fight.

Although, Joey's seemingly upper hand didn't last long, because what happened next from Kaiba was one swift movement, and he had Joey pinned on the ground underneath him, holding his hands against the pavement on either side of his head.

Despite Joey's struggling, the CEO didn't budge, just smirked down at the blond...a smirk that said 'I'm better then you' in more then one way, and leaned down so that his face was hovering just above the blonde's. "Have we learned anything today, pup? Don't try to turn on your master," he whispered in a calm voice, only so that Joey could hear him.

"Goddammit Kaiba you're not my master! Get off!" Joey suppressed a growl, attempting to struggle against the brunette's grip, but to no avail. Kaiba didn't budge a bit.

"You're collar says otherwise, pup," Kaiba replied coldly before standing up and turning to face the rest of the group, who had stopped upon hearing Joey's yell, and were now watching the two teens. "What?" (A/N: The collar reads 'Property of Seto Kaiba')

Royko was staring in disbelief at the pair, but as soon as Kaiba had spoke he shook his head and turned to Yami. "Are they always like this?"

Yami just chuckled and shook his head. "No...They're never usually this friendly with each other." He replied simply while watching Kaiba help the blond up to a stand before the group turned and continued to the arcade.

**-----Joey's POV-----**

Once Kaiba got off of me and helped me up I automatically looked around at the others as they started towards the arcade again. _'I hope no one heard what moneybags said...'_ Wait, what do I care for?

Ok, maybe I do care. But who wouldn't? Rich boy just basically claimed to own me. Which reminds me...

I try to look at the blasted collar that damn Kaiba put on me, but to no avail. Why'd it have to be around my neck! Stupid thing. I let out a annoyed growl, and instantly regret it. Kaiba looks at me with his smirk plastered all over his face.

"Trying to read your new collar, pup?" he asks in his usual smug voice. But I'm not going to give in to him that easily, oh no. I'm not going to admit that I was curious as to what the collar said. Why should I care anyway?

"What if I was moneybags? Why do you care?" I send a glare in his direction, but he simply smirks and turns his attention back to where we're going. I desperately try to read the collar again, pulling on it to try and read it.

"You're not going to read it that way, puppy." Shit. He caught me trying to read this damn thing. Well, maybe he'll tell me now.

"Well that why don't you tell me what it say, Kaiba?" I reply coldly, turning to glare at him. Great, that didn't do anything but make him chuckle lightly, shaking his head as he watches me. God I hate him, even if he is cute. _'Woah! I did not just think that about moneybags! There's no way I'm attracted to him. No way in hell. Even if he does have cute blue eyes...and a perfect build...Wait. No! Bad thoughts!'_

"What if I don't want to? You know puppy, you really shouldn't try to back talk to me. I might have to punish you."

"What the heck's that supposed to mean?"

No answer. Kaiba just shakes his head, smirking even more.

Oh, we're here.

**-----Normal POV-----**

As soon as they arrived at the arcade, Joey's mind was taken off the collar around his neck and onto beating Royko at air hockey, Yami went with Tea to play some dance-off game off somewhere, and the Kaiba brothers had wandered off to some video game. Or rather, Mokuba had wandered off to some video game, dragging Seto along with him.

"Come on big brother! I wanna play this one!" Mokuba's childish voice could be heard ringing out as he dragged Seto deep into the arcade before the elder Kaiba had a chance to protest.

That left Ryou, Yugi, and Honda to watch the rather heated game of air hockey between Royko and Joey. Bakura, aka Royko, was winning by a landslide. His quick reflexes and concentration,that he had gained from years of being a thief, way outmatched Joey's own air hockey skills.

"Royko, where'd you learn to play air hockey so well ya little bastard!" Joey shouted, just as Royko shot the disc into his goal, winning for the fourth game in a row. Of course, Joey meant no harm by the comment, and Royko didn't take it in a harmful way.

Repressing a laugh, Royko merely shook his head. "I don't know. I just have a knack for it I guess." He mumbled, looking away. His gaze drifted over to where Tea and Yami were still going at it on the dancing machine, a crowd had started to gather around the two friends as they worked their dance stations like mad.

Yami's movements were quick, fluid, and graceful. Boy, did he know how to dance. Even Tea and her raw talent, along with years of practice, couldn't outmatch him, their dance-off would have to come down to who had the most energy in them...Or who had the better balance, because soon after Royko and the others started watching, Tea's foot slipped out from under her body.

**Thud!**

Tea had fallen backwards off the pad, but rather then falling onto the ground, she fell right on top of Seto, who had taken the first opportunity to get out of playing games with his brother to watch the dance off.

Seto, however, was not so lucky. He fell to the ground in surprise, Tea still on top of him. And when he finally realized what had happened, he sent her a icy glare, causing her to shoot to a stand and bow in apology to the CEO.

"I'm so sorry Kaiba! I guess I got to carried away..." she muttered softly, a small blush going over her cheeks before she turned to look at Yami. "Well, looks like you win Yami, as always."

Yami just shook his head, chuckling softly. By now the crowd had seperated and dwindled down to a few people who just stood around looking idiotic.

The rest of the group made their way over, Joey laughing his head off about the whole thing.

"Mutt. If you don't shut up, you can forget even the slightest chance of that collar coming off," Seto hissed,standing and dusting off himself as he did so. A small smirk came over his lips when Joey abruptly stopped laughing. "Good pup..."

"I'm not a dog Kaiba!" The blond growled through clenched teeth, before a idea sparked in his head. "Ok moneybags. How about this? You play me at air hockey, and if you win I'll..."

"Admit to being the dog you are, pup? And call me your master?" Seto smirked, watching Joey intently.

"Uh...Sure. But if I win then ya gotta stop insulting me and calling me a dog. And, you have ta take the collar off." Joey replied, not totally registering all that was at risk here, like his dignity.

"Ok, I'll accept, only if, since you're adding your new collar to it, you keep the collar on without complaint, as long as I want, and at any time I want. Added to what I've already stated previously of course." The CEO added calmly, holding out his hand in order to seal the bet.

"Done." Joey took his hand in a quick, firm handshake, and the two headed over to the air hockey table, the rest following right behind.

"Joey are you sure this is a good idea?" Yugi asked his best friend worriedly.

"Whadd'ya mean Yug? Of course its a good idea! I'll show Kaiba not to mess wit Joey Wheeler!" The blond replied confidently.

Yugi, didn't reply, because just then Royko announced the start of the game, and Seto had hit the disc towards Joey's goal, scoring the first point. Sighing, Yugi stole a glance towards Yami, who was whispering into Royko's ear happily, causing the white haired teen to snicker. This was going to be a long game...

---15 minutes later...---

"I can't believe I lost..." Joey fell against the table in a defeated way, Seto had just scored the winning goal of the game, sealing away what seemed to be the last of the blonde's dignity.

In a matter of seconds Seto had moved around the table and was standing right next to Joey, looking down at him expectingly. "Well? Hold up to your end of the deal, pup."

"Nnngh...Fine. Whadda'ya want me ta say moneybags?" The blond looked up from the table, just as Seto leaned down to whisper something in his ear. A scowl came across Joey's face as he listened, before the CEO pulled away again.

"Alright, go ahead," Seto ordered after a moment of silence, smirking even more.

_'I can't believe I'm doing dis...'_ Joey sighed, looking down and mumbling in a voice just barely loud enough to not give Kaiba any reason to have him repeat himself. "I, Joey Wheeler, am but a lowly puppy..." He glanced at Seto, who smirked, indicating for him to go on, "...owned solely by Seto Kaiba, my proclaimed master."

Seto beamed, before standing up straight and pulling both Joey and Mokuba towards the door. "Well, see you later. We have some things to take care of." Mokuba called back at them, waving before they vanished through out the door. Of course, by 'we' he meant 'me and Seto', the young Kaiba had no idea why his brother was bringing the mutt along for the ride.

Everyone stood in silence for a moment before Royko broke the silence. "Well...I guess we'll be heading home as well then..." he stated softly, glancing at Ryou.

Yami blinked, frowning for a moment before a idea hit him and he smiled. "Hey, why don't you and I go out for a walk, Royko? Get to know each other better?"

\Yami? What are you up to?\

\\ Nothing. I just want to get to know him better, just like I said\\

\Alright..Just don't do anything stupid.\

\\ Why do I get the feeling that I should be the one saying that? We're going to be leaving you four alone...Maybe its not such a good idea..Who knows what could happen between you all.\\

\Yami!\

\\ Kidding, aibou, kidding.\\

\I'll see you later.\

Taking Royko's stunned expression as a yes Yami beamed and, waving to the rest of them, pulled him out of the building, leaving everyone else there in silence again, until Yugi spoke.

"Well, I guess we could all either head home or go see a movie?" he suggested, looking at the others.

Then, in unison, they all shouted, "Movies!" and ran out the door laughing, Yugi and Ryou in the lead

/Have fun on your walk with Yami, 'kura/

/Yeah, yeah...It shouldn't be too terrible..Right/

/Ha ha, you should really give Yami a chance to become friends with you. Anyways, we're going to the movies, so I'll see you at home in time for dinner/

/Sure. Dinner it is./

Ryou smiled as he ran, he was glad that his yami had gotten a better control over his temper since he got back from the Shadow Realm.


	4. Spying at the Park

As always, since i'm not changing this part...: 

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Bakura-Royko/

/Bakura-Royko to Ryou/

\Yugi to Yami\

**\** Yami to Yugi\

Disclaimer: If I told you once I've told you before, _**I don't own YuGiOh!**_

**Spying at The Park **

**---Royko's POV---**

I feel my stomach churn as I allow the Pharaoh lead me through the city streets. What am I supposed to do now? This silence is getting to be unbearable. _'Where're we going anyway?'_

Suddenly, I crash into Yami's back. He must've stopped while I was lost in my thoughts...Damn Pharaoh.

"Oof!" I stumble backwards, but before I hit the ground a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around my waist, the Pharaoh stopped my fall. _'Oh great. I just made a fool out of myself..' _My cheeks heat up ever so slightly as I look up into the violet eyes that are staring down at me.

"Are you ok?" His voice is so soft, but at the same time it doesn't lack that air of utter confidence that's always there. Who would've thought that the great and powerful Pharaoh could sound so...Cute? No..I mentally slap myself. Oh, right, he's still waiting for me to say something. Better answer him before this gets worse.

"Oh, yea...I'm fine. Sorry about that, I didn't realize you had.." He stops me by placing a gentle finger over my lips.

I can feel my cheeks heat up even more as he smiles, his eyes shining with amusement as he pulls me back upright into a stand before releasing my waist, his cheeks gaining a small tint of pink. "It's fine Royko, I didn't mean to startle you when I stopped so abruptly."

He lets out a weak chuckle, looking away. I can't help but find it cute, how he seems to get nervous like that. _'Wait. No, I don't find the Pharaoh cute! I really have to get these thoughts under control...Although...No! Stop that!' _

"Royko?" My thought's are interrupted by Yami's soft voice, I feel my face heat up even more at being caught not listening to him.

"Uhm...Yes Yami?" I manage out, smiling weakly in order to cover up my guilt.

I must be losing my touch because Yami's just shaking his head laughing and going on about how cute I look right now. Oh wait. He just asked me something. Ok, focus Bakura...What did he just say?

"Royko? Are you listening? Where do you want to go now?" Ah, thank you Yami. I smile at him sweetly before answering.

"I guess we could go to the park, I haven't had the chance to see what the parks here are like yet," I suggest softly, doing my best to look excited when he nods and starts to lead me towards our destination. _'Perfect...It won't be so crowded there and we can start having fun...I hope.'_

**---Normal POV---**

As the two entered the park, chatting lightly with one another about random things, they didn't notice the four figures that haddove behindtrees just as they turned a corner.

See, soon after Yugi, Ryou, Tea and Honda reached the movie theaters, they realized that they didn't have enough money to pay for all four of their tickets. As a result, they started to plan what else they could do rather then ending up having to go home.

Yugi, being the truly devious hikari that he is, informed the others of Yami's crush on Ryou's brother. This little bit of news made the three boys decide that spying on the other two teens would be the most promising form of entertainment for their group of trouble makers.

Of course, Tea decided to go home rather then risk ruining a promising relationship between Yami and Royko, being the boring person she is.

Eventually, the three boys finally made their way over to the most promising place for them to find the pair, the park.

With a amazing bit of luck, they happened to run into the younger of the Kaiba brothersa little waysinside the park and Mokuba, being the genius he was, and also having seen the couple in question headingthrough the park entrancemoments before, managed to drag all three of his friends behind a set of trees before Yami and Royko came right around the corner.

"Wow, thanks Mokuba, but I thought you and Kaiba had things to do?" Ryou whispered softly, grateful that he had left his ring at home as Royko and Yami walked past their hiding spot.

"Well, I thought so too but as soon as we got home Seto told me to forget about work and leave him to deal with 'the mutt.'" Mokuba rolled his eyes, before a evil grin came over his lips. "So you guy's are spying on those two lovebirds, huh?"

Yugi grinned, nodding. "That's right. Wanna join us?"

Mokuba's eyes got wide and he nodded furiously. "I have the perfect plan for us to not be caught, too," he whispered, so that the three had to lean in closer to hear him correctly.

**---Back to Royko and Yami---**

Yami blinked, glancing behind him after they passed by thegroup of trees. He sensed the other Millennium Puzzle close by. _'The other's must be spying on us...Well then, I'll just have to make sure that they never want to spy on us again.'_

"Yami? Are you alright? You look distracted..." Royko said, doing his best to not sound irritated. He had just repeated the same question about three times.

"Hm? Oh, yes. It's just that we seem to have some unwanted guests." Yami replied softly, just loud enough for Royko to hear.

Seeing the confused expression on the white haired teens face, Yami smirked and started walking again, muttering to Royko out of the corner of his mouth, "Yugi and the others seem to be following us..."

"Oh...Well then, we'll just have to make sure that they learn a lesson about spying then, won't we?" Royko stated softly, exchanging a small smile with Yami, who nodded and led him over to a small isolated part of the park on the other side of the pond,andwas convieniently enclosed by trees.

Making their way carefully through the trees, Yami stopping every now and then to make sure that the others were indeed following them, the pair came to the enclosed area of grass right next to the water.

It was the perfect place for privacy from unwanted civilians, or for teaching a group of nosy friends a lesson. Yami smiled mysteriously at Royko, who seemed to have a confused and nervous look on his face.

No matter how hard he tried, Royko couldn't cover up his nervousness, they never discussed what would happen when they 'isolated' themselves. _'Ok...What're you going to do now, Pharaoh? That look he's giving me...I don't know if I like it..'_

Yami slowly moved closer to Royko, reaching up and brushing some of his hair away from his face gently. "You look so cute when you're nervous," he stated softly, his violet eyes flickering towards the trees, trying to locate their little spying friends.

His eyes came to rest on the area in the trees directly behind himself and Royko, and he smirked before returning his attention to Royko, who he was now sitting strait in front of, almost on top of him.

**---The spies---**

"Duck!" Both Yugi and Mokuba ducked down behind one of the trees, Yugi pulling Honda with him while Mokuba took care of Ryou. "Do you think he saw us?" Honda whispered, looking back out at the couple.

"No..I don't think so," the raven haired boy replied, also looking out towards the two teens. "I wonder why they chose to come so far out just to sit and talk..." he muttered softly while they watched.

"I don't know..But I have a bad feeling about this you guys..I think we may have underestimated Yami's attention span..." Yugi whispered, looking down at his puzzle, which was the original version of Yami's.

It wasn't until after they finished listening to Mokuba's plan that the spiky haired teen had remembered the link between the two puzzles. Although when he had voiced his concern the other's had come to the conclusion that Yami would be too distracted by Royko. Little did they know that they were being led into a trap by the spirit and his companion.

"Oh look! They're about to kiss!" Ryou exclaimed softly, dismissing Yugi's worries once again.

**---Yami and Royko---**

Returning his attention back to Royko, Yami smiled, moving closer as the white haired teen leaned back, allowing him to crawl on top. "May I?" he asked softly, looking straight into Royko's eyes.

Royko felt his heart skip a beat as Yami brought his face closer to his own, causing their lips to hover just centimeters apart._ 'Oh god, oh god. He's going to kiss me...'_ Slowly, he nodded, not breaking eye contact. Then, a idea hit him, why should he let the Pharaoh be on top?

With that thought, he smiled and made the same swift movement he had watched Kaiba do with Joey, effectively switching places with Yami, straddling his stomach before smashing his mouth against Yami's, smiling into the kiss as he felt Yami's lips move against his.

They stayed like that for a moment, pouring everything that had been building up inside them since lunch into the kiss before they were forced to pull apart for air.

Yami smirked, reaching up and tracing Royko's face with his hand for a moment before speaking. "I didn't think you could be so...evil, so to speak. Thats the second time you've caught me off guard,"the spirit stated as Royko caught his breath.

"I like catching people off guard," Royko replied, his eyes glinting mysteriously as he smiled down at the former Pharaoh. "So...How far are we going to go? I mean...We did just meet..Don't know much about each other.." he whispered, lowering his head to hover just above Yami's.

"Well..What better way to get to know one another? As for your first question, not too far...Just enough to get us some real privacy, eh?" Yami smiled, he had no intention to go so quickly into their new relationship, but he still wanted to teach his friends a lesson.

Royko nodded, starting to work on taking off the belt around Yami's neck. "Ok..But it's only right to get rid of these pesky belts you're wearing..." he replied, a small red tint appearing on his face as he finished, and moved to removing the belts around Yami's waist.

"Well then, we can remove your belt as well..." Yami whispered, moving his hands to remove Royko's belt while the white haired teen finished removing his.

Yami's movement caught Royko off guard, causing him to let out a small gasp when Yami's soft fingers brushed lightly against his stomach.

"Fair enough..." he muttered, tossing the belts he had finished removing to the side, making sure to toss them high enough for the other's to spot. Perhaps they would mistake the chaste act for something else and leave?

Soon after he had tossed Yami's belts to the side, Yami did the same with his and, without missing a beat, slipped a hand under Royko's shirt, causing him to shudder with delight and lean down closer to the Pharaoh.

This gave Yami the perfect opportunity to roll over so that he was on top of Royko again. "Thank you for changing places with me." he murmured into his shocked companion's ear softly before leaning down to lock him into another kiss, but before he could...

"Ack!" Mokuba's yell rang out from where he know laid, face down at the top of the small hill that Royko and Yami were positioned on, causing the two to look up. There was Yugi, Ryou, and Honda as well, in a pileon top ofthe young Kaiba. 

_**---Flashback---**_

"_Hey! They're taking off each other's belts!" Mokuba whispered, sounding anxious._

"_You sure Mokuba? They wouldn't do that here, would they?" Yugi replied, shocked as both he and Mokuba moved to get a better look, just in time to see the belts being tossed away. "Oh my god!" Yugi cried out, just barely managing to keep his voice down._

_This caused Ryou and Honda to move behind the spiky haired teen before they all started fighting against each other in order to all get a look. _

_That's when Mokuba lost his balance and fell forwards out of their hiding area. Of course, in reaction to this the three other teens all reached out to try and catch him, which resulted in them all falling out of the hiding spot._

_**---End Flashback---**_

After a moment of silence, Royko and Yami burst out laughing, the two standing up. Well, Yami standing before pulling Royko to a stand himself, the two turning to stare at the heap of people on the top of the hill.

"So...Have we learned our lesson on spying?" Yami asked, smirking as he watched the four struggle to untangle themselves.

"You mean you knew we were watching?" Mokuba replied, surprised. "But if you knew then why were you were about.."

"We weren't about to do anything, we were just getting the pesky belts out of the way." Royko stated, smiling mischievously before slipping over to Yami and wrapping his arms around the other's slim waist, adding in a afterthought, "You know, in case we wanted to do something a bit more fun later..."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back, forthe four exchanged glances before they all turned and ran out of the area, all heading in the direction of what seemed to be the Kaiba mansion. "Bye!" they all called back before vanishing out of sight.

A few moments passed in silence as the couple waited to make sure the others were indeed gone. Then, they started laughing again and Yami turned around, Royko arms staying around his waist.

"Now, where were we?" he whispered softly into Royko's ear. "Oh, I remember, it was something like...this." Upon that last word he pushed Royko back onto the ground and straddled his stomach before capturing the white haired teens lips with his own.

**---Later that night...---**

Bakura walked down the now empty streets towards his and Ryou's home, still a bit dazed by what had taken place earlier that day after the 'nosy brats', as Bakura wished to call them, left. _'I've gotta be more careful with this whole boyfriend thing...Or else I'll end up having to hang around with those friends of his...'_

Bakura lookedup as he entered the house. "Ryou, I'm home!" he called out to the seemingly empty house. _'Why are the lights off?'_

Flipping the light switch he glanced at the clock, and stopped dead, 8:30? "Stupid clock must be off...There's no way it's that late."Bakura muttered, walking into the kitchen, only to find his hikari sitting there with a scowl on his face.

"Oh...There you are...The clock in the living room must be off, it was telling me that it was 8:30, there's no way I was with Yami for that long." Bakura stated, sitting down next to Ryou.

"It's not wrong, Kura, you're late. I've been waiting for you to get home for over three hours. Yugi's been worried sick as well," Ryou replied in an annoyed tone.

"Oh...I'm sorry Ryou. I guess we lost track of time and.."

"It's fine. Did you have fun? After that terrible trick you guys played on us?" Ryou asked, sounding slightly disturbed.

"Hey, you guy's asked for it! You shouldn't have been spying on us in the first place. And yes, I did have fun." Bakura growled out, before smirking and grabbing Ryou's hand, pulling him into his lap. "Did I ever thank you for giving me a second chance?"

"Only about a million times..." Ryou replied softly before yawning. "Let's go to bed, 'kay?"

"Alright...Let's go. You can fill me in on your day tomorrow, I doubt you'd want to know anymore about mine," the spirit chuckled as he stood and carried his hikari up the stairs to his room, where he laid him on the bed.

Ryou's eyes widened. "You didn't...Did you?" he asked, sounding shocked but interested at the same time.

"No, mister nosy, we didn't do that. Now goodnight," Bakura laughed and thensmirked, leaning down and kissing his hikari on the cheek before standing and heading into his own room to get some rest.


	5. Issues at School

Ok...Let's just...Get on with the story...Thank you so much for all the reviews!

Once again: 

"Speaking"

'Thinking'

/Ryou to Bakura-Royko/

/Bakura-Royko to Ryou/

-Yugi to Yami-

--Yami to Yugi--

((Sorry I had to change it because i hate my smybols.))

...Do i need to keep saying th

Issues at School 

Royko sighed as Yami and Ryou both pulled him towards their school. "I can't believe I let you guys talk me into this..." he muttered to the two of them, looking at the ground. 

"Oh come on, Royko. It's not that bad! I'm sure you'll live going to a public school rather then being home schooled," Yami replied happily, giving his boyfriend a light kiss on the cheek.

A week had passed since the day at the park when Yami and Royko silently agreed to start dating. Since then Royko had found himself being pulled out of the house everyday after Yami got out of school, and everyday Yami and Ryou would both bombard him with pleas to enroll in their school as well.

Everyday, he'd say no and that he preferred being 'home schooled', which of course Ryou knew to mean 'sitting at home reading whatever books I can find all day'. Needless to say, this did not make Yami and Ryou happy, Yami especially.

_---Begin Flashback---_

"_Royko please! If you start going to school then we can see more of each other! I'm sure you'll get away with being in the same classes as your brother since you just moved here!" Yami begged, which was a rare sight indeed (and Bakura enjoyed every moment of it besides what he was begging for)._

"_Yamiiiiiii! I already said no you baka!" Royko replied playfully with a whining voice to show he was getting tired of the constant pleas from his loved one and Ryou._

_Of course, Yami wouldn't give up and eventually he and Ryou got together at the same time with Royko, cornering him. And by cornering I mean Yami forcing him into a lay on the ground, straddling his stomach while Ryou sat in a chair to the side watching Yami 'convince' his brother to go to public school._

"_Yami! This isn't fair!" Royko let out a small groan as Yami positioned himself comfortably on the white haired teens stomach before leaning down to attack his neck with kisses. Somewhere in between standing up and laying on the floor Royko had noticed that his hands were tied, preventing him from doing anything in return._

"_Sure it is...If you won't agree then I'll just use a different method of convincing you." Yami had replied in a mischievous tone of voice. _

_It was at that point that Ryou left the room, having already served his purpose in helping Yami. "I'll...Be in the kitchen. Good luck." He said softly before vanishing._

_Eventually, after enduring about of hour of Yami's 'persuasion', Royko had cracked and agreed to enroll in the school, so long as Yami promised to untie his hands and stop teasing him. Yami, of course, happily obliged, soon finding himself under Royko, who started his heartfelt revenge on the former Pharaoh._

_---End Flashback---_

"Ah, you must be Royko! It's nice to meet you," the principle smiled at his new pupil, shaking his hand before moving on, "Since your brother called a few days ahead of time to enroll you we already have your classes and everything set up. Why don't you boys show him around campus?"

Royko's eyes widened, not so much in shock as anger. Ryou had already enrolled him? He had just barely agreed the day before! _'That brat is going to get it when we get home.'_ Sending a glare towards his 'brother' Royko opened his mouth to speak, but Ryou beat him.

"He is in the same classes as me, right Professor?" Ryou asked, smiling politely when the principle confirmed his thoughts and sent them on their way.

"You enrolled me before you even got me to agree?" Royko blurted out once they were well out of earshot of the principle.

The only thing keeping him from lunging at his 'brother' right there was the fact that Yami had a tight grip on his arm. "Royko, please, don't make a big deal out of this...I told him to enroll you ahead of time, because I already knew I'd get you to say yes."

"Yamiiiiiii! I can't believe you did that!" Royko whined, looking at his boyfriend with a fake pout, only succeeding in causing Yami to let out a small chuckle and kiss him, making him melt right there, fortunately for Ryou.

"Uhm...You guys, we have to get to class..." Ryou stated, and after a few minutes of fighting he succeeded in dragging the two lovebirds into their classroom to meet up with the others.

Joey was sulking in his seat, still sporting the collar that the CEO had put on him, every so often he would glance towards said brunette. Seto was sitting in his own seat reading a book, of which the contents will never be known, while also stealing glances at 'his puppy', the two just barely missing each other's eyes.

Honda and Tea were deep into a conversation about some homework assignment that Honda forgot to do, while Yugi and Duke were finishing up a game of duel monsters. As soon as Yami, Ryou and Royko took their seats (Royko 'conveniently' sitting between the other two) the teacher walked in and started to take roll.

Much to Royko's dismay, when the teacher finished taking attendance she had him stand up and introduce himself in front of the whole class. Even more to his dismay, he was bombarded with questions and forced to answer them all. Of course he would call on Ryou through their mind link every now and then for help on some hard questions.

Once he was allowed to sit down again his face was a deep crimson, which may have been because Seto, being the jerk he was, had asked a particularly embarrassing question of which he already knew the answer to.

The question, in case you were wondering, was whether or not Royko had a boyfriend, he didn't even bother asking if he was gay first. Royko, at that point had shot a terrified look at the teacher, who, upon receiving a icy glare from the CEO, had him answer the question anyways.

"Ok class...time to start our lesson." With that, the teacher started said lesson.

Royko took this chance to write a note to Kaiba, who received it from Yami and replied.

By the end of class the note went as followed:

_Why the hell did you ask that question when you knew the answer already/R.B_

_Because I thought the other classmates should be warned to not try anything on you. I was being nice. / S.K_

_Oh yes that was really nice of you Kaiba! Why warn them/R.B_

_Because I don't find Yami sending someone to the shadow realm for hitting on his boyfriend particularly funny. / S.K_

_Oh. But Yami's not that protective/ R.B_

It was at that point that Yami decided to read the note before passing it on. In which he also scribbled something on it.

_Kaiba I wouldn't send someone to the shadow realm for hitting on Royko/ Y_

_I'm sure Yami. I've seen how protective you are over Yugi. I'm sure it'll be even more so with your boyfriend. /S.K_

_Would you two stop it/ R.B_

_Fine. But you owe me when we get home, love. / Y_

_Oh geeze. Spare me, please. / S.K_

With that the note passing ended, the note in Royko's possession. Sighing he slipped it into his pocket before the bell rang and Yami pulled him out of the classroom.

The rest of the day up till lunch went on fairly similar to the first class, minus the self-introduction, seeing as word had already been spread across the school by the time their second class started.

**---Lunch---**

"Kaiba for the last time I am not a dog!" Joey growled, glaring up at the CEO from his spot at their lunch table.

"I didn't call you a dog, I called you a puppy," Seto smirked, crossing his arms as he sat down.

"It's the same thing!" Joey shot back, glaring at him.

Their argument was interrupted by Royko, who suddenly broke into a coughing fit over his drink.

"Royko are you ok?" Yami asked, concerned, as he patted the white haired teens back firmly a few times. Not that it helped much since Royko ended up standing and running out of the room, closely followed by Yami, and surprisingly, Seto.

**---Royko's POV---**

I run down the hall, trying to find the closest exit to run out of. Finding what I'm looking for I run strait out the doors and collapse by the tree just outside. I can't breathe, why can't I breath?

I close my eyes, sitting here against the tree coughing my lungs up. _'What the hell is going on with me! Maybe I shouldn't have left the ring at home today..'_

"Royko, Royko are you alright!" Oh no, Yami followed me. What am I supposed to say? I don't even know what's wrong!

"I..I don't know," I choke out between coughs. Another shadow appears over me, and I take a glance up. Oh great, Kaiba followed too.

"What's wrong?" he asks coolly as Yami kneels down beside me, trying to help me gain control of my coughing. To say the least, it's not very successful. Soon I see that Kaiba has kneeled down as well, his face is showing some concern.

We stay like the for a while, the three of us. Kaiba and Yami trying to calm my coughing. Finally Ryou's voice can be heard as the rest of them come out of the building.

"There they are! Royko!" I force myself to a stand, Yami and Kaiba standing with me, watching as I lean my head against the tree, still coughing. So much for trying to act like I'm alright.

"Ryou...only," I choke out, waving my hand for the others to leave us alone for a minute. Ryou, as if on cue, pulls my arm around his shoulder and leads me back inside, to the nearest bathroom. Luckily, its empty and we can lock the door for some privacy.

"Bakura what happened!" Ryou sounds scared, but I just shake my head, waiting for my most recent coughing fit to pass by before speaking.

"Ring." I hold my hand out, showing that I'm demanding the item around my hikari's neck. Without missing a beat he takes it from around his neck and places it in my hand. That's better, the coughing is subsiding. "I knew it..." I mutter, before standing again.

"What?"

"I forgot my version of the ring at home, and I think that's whats been keeping me so stable while I've been here. Would you mind if I borrowed yours for the rest of the day?" I ask, closing my eyes even tighter with each passing word out of my mouth. I hate asking for help.

"Of course 'kura! Anything to keep you up and about. But you never wear your ring around the house, why doesn't it effect you there?" Ryou replies, why does he have to ask such complicated things?

"I think that's because it's close by, so long as I stay in the house, the ring's power can still reach me...Why your's hasn't effected me until I touched it, I don't know. I don't even know if my first thought is right." Not wanting to be bombarded with more questions I stand, slipping the ring on under my uniform before unlocking the door and walking out.

Now I can walk by myself, but I still feel a little light headed as we head back to the group, and I'm still coughing every so often, but at least it's not as bad as before. _'Yami's going to want some answers...'_

**---The group---** (starting when Ryou and Bakura are talking in the bathroom)

Yami sighed, leaned against the tree. _'Why would Royko only want Ryou? It doesn't make sense...' _

"Yami, are you ok?" Yugi asked, looking at his dark with a worried expression on his face.

"Eh? Oh, yes aibou, I'm fine. Just worried about Royko.." he replied, waving it away with his hand half-heartedly.

"Well, it looks like they're coming back out." Seto stated, pointing towards the doors, where Ryou and Royko were coming out, Ryou staying behind Royko to make sure that he wouldn't fall.

Without waiting for the twins to reach them, Yami shot over to Royko, pulling him into a strong hug. "Are you alright now?"

Royko seemed to be caught off guard because he didn't answer for a moment, coughing a bit before replying. "I'm fine, Yami...Don't worry about it.." he whispered softly, looking away before adding. "Though, I am a bit thirsty."

This considerably lightened everyone's mood, causing them to forget about most of their questions as Yami led Royko towards the cafeteria to get him some sort of liquid.

Ryou gave Royko a small smile as they passed by him, staying behind to collect his and Royko's items. Standing up he turned around to join the others, only to be stopped by a strong hand on his shoulder.

"So...what was all that about, Ryou?" Seto asked as he moved around so Ryou could look strait at him. "Your brother seemed a little ill...How'd he get better so quickly?"

"Oh, well..I don't know...Excuse me, Kaiba. I really should get these back to Royko," Ryou replied, offhand as he stepped around the CEO, heading towards the building. Seto merely sighed and followed him.

"You know, Yami was really worried about him...Is there something you two aren't telling us?" he asked, trying his best to not sound interested.

"Eh...Kaiba, why are you so interested in me and my brother recently? If there's something we're not sharing with you then we'll tell you when we're ready." Ryou replied, his voice gaining a small hint of irritation in it.

"Ok, I'll take a hint, and won't ask anymore about it," Seto stated, holding up his hands in defense as they entered the lunch room. With that being said, he strode over to where Joey was sitting, talking with Yami as Royko scarfed down some last minute food. "Come on, pup," he said, stopping by the table and waiting while Joey gathered his things up.

"What do you want now money bags?" The blond replied, sounding slightly irritated as he finished getting his stuff together and stood.

"You'll see in a minute," was the only reply he got as Seto dragged him out of the room by his collar.

"Ack! See ya Yuge!" Joey called back before they vanished from view.

After a few moments of silence passed, Yami turned to Royko, who had long since finished eating and had discarded the leftover trash.

"Better now?" He asked, giving Royko a quick kiss on the cheek before the bell signaling the end of the lunch period rang out across the school. "Oh, we better go..." With that he caught his boyfriends hand in his and pulled Royko towards their next class, stopping just long enough to allow Ryou to hand over his supplies.

"Yami! Wait up! We're coming too you know!" Honda called out after the two as they raced down the hall towards class.

**----Later on that day----**

Royko yawned lightly, stretching out as they walked out of the classroom, Yami following close behind, still looking a bit concerned. "Royko, are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes, Yami. I already told you, don't worry about me," he replied for what seemed to be the millionth time since lunch ended. Royko just wanted to go home so he could get his own necklace and return Ryou's to him.

"Alright...If you say so.." Yami sighed, wrapping a arm around Royko's waist gently as the couple left the school grounds and started down the street.

Nodding Royko smiled, before stopping and glancing behind him. Where did Ryou get off to? _'Ugh...I'm never going to be able to return this to him now...I'll just have to leave it at the house for him.'_ Sensing that Yami was watching him he turned he started walking again, smiling softly. "To my place then?"

"So long as we don't stay there," Yami replied with a soft chuckle as he pulled Royko closer to him and continued to walk, now that they had agreed on a destination.

"Oh, I never planned to stay. I just wanted to change into something more...Comfortable, so to speak," Royko replied softy.

Soon, they reached the house and Royko unlocked the door, flipping on the light-switch and slipping his shoes off before running up the stairs.

"I'll only be a minute!" he called back to Yami, pulling off Ryou's Millennium Ring and tossing it onto his hikari's bed with a note attached before slipping into his own room and pulling off his clothing so he could pull on a pair of leather pants and form fitting shirt.

"Ahem." Turning around Royko blinked, blushing when he saw Yami's form leaning in the doorway watching him with a sly smile over his face. "Nice choice of clothing...Isn't that what you wore when we went to the park? I think it looks even better the second time around,"Yami said softly, pushing off the door frame and over to Royko, who he then forced down onto the bed.

"Y-yami...I thought you wanted to go out.." Royko groaned slightly as Yami started attacking his neck with kisses. _'He's going to drive me insane with this before he let's me drag him out...great.' _

After a moment or so Yami stopped and chuckled softly. "Ah, you're right...We shouldn't get too into it this early in the day anyway..." he replied before kissing the white haired teen and rolling off the bed to a stand, "let's go then." Smirking, he slipped out of the room, knowing full well what effect he had on Royko.

"Oh that's so not fair.." Royko muttered before sitting up and quickly slipping his version of the ring on under his shirt, running out the door after the Pharaoh once he was sure it was concealed correctly.


	6. Return to Domino

Malik: I'm in this chapter!

YSF: ...oh yeah! this is where I started influencing Angel. wow, almost a year ago this chapter was posted...On to the story! Or...The disclaimer. Whatever, I'm going back to bed. -wanders off-

Seeing as certain symbols don't like to show for me, things are going to get a little complicated;

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Royko-Bakura/

/Royko-Bakura to Ryou/

-Yugi to Yami-

--Yami to Yugi--

(Malik to Marik)

((Marik to Malik))

(((Author's notes)))

Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish and pray for it, I DO NOT OWN YUGIOH! If I did, Ryou and Bakura would get much more screen time.

Ryou: -runs off to find whoever really owns Yugioh-

The Return to Domino

--Egypt, a month after Royko's attack at school--

"Marik! Get off me! I have to pack!" Malik cried out, struggling underneath his yami who had him pinned to the ground.

"Awh...But I want to play Malik. Can't it wait?" Marik pouted down at his lighter half, holding Malik in place long enough to straddle his stomach.

"No, it can't. Isis said she wanted us to be ready to go by tomorrow! I still have a ton...of.." Malik trailed off, letting out a small groan as Marik leaned down and started to suck on his neck gently.

"You're no fun..." he whispered gently when Malik had finally calmed down and stopped struggling. "But fine, I'll let you up if you promise to play when we get to our new house...Still don't see why Isis wants to move back to Domino."

"She says its so she can be closer to the Pharaoh now that he has his memory again," Malik replied, "and I promise, now will you please get off?"

Sighing, Marik nodded and stood, helping his light stand up before pulling him into a deep kiss. Breaking apart after a moment he turned to leave the room. "Hurry up, or Isis will get on your case.."

"Hey, what about you? Aren't you going to pack?" Malik called after him, starting to work again on packing all the while.

"I finished mine already," was the only reply he received.

Malik stood there in slight shock. What was wrong with this picture? 'He finished before me! That's not possible! I always finish packing before...' With a sudden thought he looked down and shifted through his things, finding that his rod wasn't packed he narrowed his eyes and ran out the room yelling, "MARIK YOU BRAT YOU USED THE ROD ON ME!"

--Later that Evening..--

Finally finished with his own packing Malik flopped down onto the bed, rubbing his wrists subconsciously. He had chased his yami all around the house, only to find himself pinned against the wall with Marik holding his wrists together with one hand while the other tickled and teased him mercilessly.

The result had been Isis finding the two and scolding her brother(s) for fooling around when they should have been helping with the move preparations.

She had sent Malik back to his room to finish packing his personal items, and convinced Marik to help Odion with small things around the house by threatening to not give him dinner, and also not allow him to sit with Malik on the journey to Domino. Marik, upon hearing her threats, had rushed out of the room to find Odion.

"I wouldn't be relaxing so soon, little brother..." came Isis's soft voice from the doorway, causing Malik to look up just in time to catch the apron his sister had thrown at him.

"Oh Ra, please no Isis! You know I hate cooking!" He pleaded, frowning as he finally looked and the apron, his face turning a deep crimson out of both anger and embarrassment. "And I'm not wearing pink."

"Oh, come on Malik. Would you rather me have Marik help out?" Isis replied with a small giggle as she pulled her brother out of his room and into the kitchen. "We both know how that would turn out."

"You're right...I do want to be able to move when we do get there..."

--Domino city, night time, Ryou an Royko's place--

"Yami you're being cruel to me!" Royko whined, nipping at his loves ear lightly as Yami turned his head to reply.

"Ah...Call it revenge for your little trick earlier today," the former Pharaoh chuckled, running a hand lightly over the white haired boy's bared chest, touching certain spots in certain ways, which in turn caused his 'trapped' partner to groan slightly.

"What I did was no where near deserving of such..." was the only reply Yami received, along with another nip at his ear, the only part of his body in which he had left in Royko's access.

"Ah...So you'd rather I stop everything?" Yami smirked, moving to roll off Royko, who let out a small whine of protest.

"No...But I'd like to at least be allowed to move my hands..." Yes, Yami had once again succeeded in tying the teens hands above his head.

Royko, however, had already untied the ropes to where he could counter at any time, being a master thief at one point did have it's advantages. Not wanting to give himself away, however, Royko had forced himself to endure Yami's so called 'punishment' until he could find the best moment to counter.

Smiling as Yami moved to untie his hands, he quickly managed in successfully trapping the Pharaoh's hands with the same rope, switching places with him. "Gotcha..."

"Hey! How'd you do that?" Yami frowned, struggling slightly against the rope.

"You don't tie very well...Although it was hard seeing as a certain tri-color haired boy was teasing me relentlessly," Royko replied coolly before lowering his head and capturing Yami's lips in a deep kiss.

Yami merely smiled into the kiss. _'One more thing to add to the list of similarities he has with the tomb robber...I shouldn't think about that now though...Rather, I need to get this...' _He let out a small groan, being pulled out of his thoughts as Royko pulled away and started to ever so slowly kiss his neck several times.

--Meanwhile, downstairs...--

"Yugi...You should tell Yami that it defeats the purpose of a sleepover to run off somewhere with Royko," Mokuba stated with a small sigh, tugging on a loose strand of hair.

"I doubt Yami's in control anymore...He just closed the link between us.." was the only reply followed by a small shudder.

"Those two really need to gain some self-control.." Seto stated thoughtfully from his spot on the couch with Joey, combing his fingers through the blond's messy hair. This earned him a signature Kaiba glare from his little brother, causing him to smirk in return. "I have self control, if I didn't me and the pup wouldn't be here either."

"No. If it weren't for those two taking up the only free room, you wouldn't be down here." Ryou corrected, having previously stated that his and his father's room were off-limit's for any...special activities. Both then, and now, he had earned a glare from the elder Kaiba.

Yugi resisted giggling, exchanging glances with Mokuba and Ryou knowingly. After making sure he had himself under control, Yugi sat up straight. "All right, how about we play Truth or Dare?"

Ryou, Mokuba, and Joey nodded, all looking at Seto, who sighed. "Alright, but I start," he stated, before starting the game, "Ryou, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth." Ryou replied, biting his lip.

Seto smirked, thinking for a moment before asking, "Are you gay?"

Ryou blushed, looking down. "I'm not sure..." he muttered, before looking up. "Yugi, truth or dare?"

"Dare," came Yugi's confident reply.

Thinking for a moment, Ryou let out a small giggle before smiling innocently at his friend. "Ok, I dare you to go upstairs and walk straight in on Yami and my brother, without warning Yami."

Yugi eye's widened. "That's a death wish though! And who knows what they're doing in there!"

"Are my ears deceiving me or is the infamous 'King of Games' declining a challenge?" Seto sneered, smiling.

With a small sigh Yugi sent a glare towards them all before heading upstairs towards Royko's room, the others following him to the top of the stairs, where they could watch to make sure he followed through with the dare.

Taking a deep breath Yugi pressed his ear to the door, as if trying to determine weather or not it would be safe to enter with sight. Determining it would be safe enough he glanced back at the others, who urged him on, getting ready to run downstairs once the door opened.

After putting on his best game face Yugi turned the doorknob and burst into the room, yelling at the same time, "ITWASADAREDON'TKILLME!" Before staring at the sight in front of him. Royko was straddling Yami's stomach, and Yami had his hands tied above his head.

Royko was staring at him with a death glare Yugi thought only a Kaiba could produce. Smirking, and after untying Yugi's darker half quickly, he pounced onYugi, the two of them landing just outside the room with Yugi pinned under the half dressed figure called Royko.

"A dare, huh?" he asked in a low voice as Yami, also half-dressed, calmly walked over to them, kneeling next to the two before exchanging glances with Royko.

Yugi nodded, his eyes so big you'd think they would fall out.

"Well then...I guess we'll just have to let you off easy." Yami stated before grinning at Royko and nodding.

Royko let out a small cackle before the two started ticking Yami's hikari mercilessly. "TICKLE ATTACK!" they yelled in unison, sending poor Yugi deep into a laughing fit.

"N-no! S-stop! I-I can't...B-breathe! RYOU HELP!" Yugi cried out to his best friend, who had raced up the stairs upon hearing Yami and Royko's yell.

Ryou automatically tackled his 'twin' off Yugi, attempting to pin him to the ground. Unfortunately for him, Royko was bigger and stronger then himself. End result: Ryou pinned to the ground while Royko sat on top tickling him just as he had done Yugi.

Yami, had already pinned his hikari to the ground again and returned to tickling him. Seto, Mokuba and Joey having followed up the stairs to see the sight, were all laughing their heads off.

Mokuba started towards them to attempt to help but before he could take more then a few steps, his brother pulled him back by his wrist shaving gained control of his laughing as well.

"Big brother let go!" He cried out, only to be lifted into the air by the brunette, to keep him from going any further.

"Don't get involved, Mokie," Seto stated, smirking as he threw his younger brother over his shoulder and started back downstairs.

After a few more minutes, Yami and Royko finished their revenge on the their two counterparts, leaving Ryou and Yugi in the hall while they headed downstairs, still half dressed, but since it was only guy's there, they didn't seem to care.

"Ok, no more playing truth or dare...Who's hungry?" Yami asked as Royko sat down in a chair previously occupied by Yugi. Everyone seemed to raise their hands, Ryou and Yugi finally managing to come downstairs.

"I'll help you Yami," Mokuba chided in, jumping up and following Yami into the kitchen before anyone else could protest.

After a few moments of silence, Ryou spoke. "That was terrible Royko," he hissed weakly.

"You shouldn't have gotten involved, brother," Royko replied, smirking at Yugi, who was still pulling himself together.

"I was involved from the beginning. I'm the one who made the...dare.." Ryou trailed off, biting his lip, "Oops...Shouldn't have said that."

Royko raised a eyebrow, glaring at the his brother. "We'll talk about that tomorrow," he stated, surprisingly calm before turning to Seto. "Why didn't you let Mokuba help these two, Kaiba?" he asked curiously, "They would've out numbered us."

The CEO raised a eyebrow in response, thinking before he replied, "Well...Let's just say I had my reasons," He stated before turning to look at Joey, who had sat down in a chair across from him, talking quietly to Yugi. '_Well, at least the puppy's keeping entertained...'_

After a few moment's passed, Yami and Mokuba entered the room again, Yami holding a tray with seven mugs filled with hot coco on it while Mokuba carried one stacked high with sandwiches.

Upon getting questioning stares the two smiled meekly. "It's the only thing we could make...These two apparently don't know how to eat properly," Yami stated, jerking his head toward the twins, who both blushed sheepishly, exchanging glances.

After the trays had been set down on the table in the middle of the group Yami sat down with Royko, positioned so that he was sitting on the white-haired teens lap comfortably.

"You know, the only reason we don't have much is because we don't eat a lot..." Royko stated thoughtfully after everyone had started in on the snacks.

"Yes, well...I plan on changing that very soon," Yami replied, kissing Royko gently on the lips.

--Egypt--

Malik yawned, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he, Marik, Isis, and Odion entered the airport. Somehow Isis had managed to convince Kaiba to send them a private jet for their trip. Marik, noticing how tired his light was, lifted Malik over his shoulder before continuing on.

"H-hey!" Malik protested with a slight yawn.

"Hush, you're tired. Just go to sleep," came the sharp reply as Marik followed Isis and Odion over to where they were to get on the Kaiba Corp jet.

Malik let out a small sigh, but didn't argue. Resting his head on his yami's shoulder he slipped off into a deep sleep.

Two men in suits were waiting for the group, and after making sure their household possessions were on the jet, the four were escorted on board. A few minutes later they were on their way to Domino, Malik sleeping peacefully on one of the two couches.

"He really must be tired," Isis stated as she watched her little brother, sipping at a glass of tea she had retrieved earlier.

"Ever since the Pharaoh got his memories back and banished Bakura to the darkest corner of the shadow realm he's been having a rough time," Marik replied, sighing as he ran his hand over the millennium rod.

"He lost his best friend...But he couldn't, and won't blame the Pharaoh for doing what he did..." Odion chided in, closing his eyes as he leaned back in one of the chairs.

"Yes...He just doesn't understand why Bakura must be punished for something that happened in the past...he...we, believe that the Tomb Robber played that game because something forced him to...Something called fate..." Marik stated, also closing his eyes, before asking a question of Isis. "So, why are we suddenly moving to Domino?"

"Because, I believe that Malik, and you, will find what you two need there in ways of relief from the doubt casting shadows over your minds..." Isis replied simply, fingering the Tauk around her neck as she spoke. _'I just hope no troubles come from my decision...Bakura, I know you're out there...'_

Once Isis had finished speaking everyone fell silent, before agreeing to getting some rest before they landed, Marik took one glance out the window, before adjusting his position to the most comfortable. _'I hope Isis is right, I can't stand seeing Malik like this...Besides, if there's any chance of our dear friend coming back, then he could be totally different..I was..'_

--Several hours later--

Malik let out a small groan, rolling over and falling off of the couch where he had been sleeping with an 'eep' of surprise. Taking a moment to wake up completely, he glanced around at the others to make sure that they were still sleeping before he stood and stretched, moving to look out the window. _'I wonder how Isis got Kaiba to send a jet for us...'_

"I see my love is awake.." came a cool voice from behind the young Egyptian, causing him to jump and turn around, only to be caught in a liplock with Marik. After a moment they broke apart, and Marik smiled happily. "Do you feel any better?"

"A bit I guess...Now that we're going back, I think I might be able to come to terms with...with it," Malik gave a weak smile, cuddling against his darks warm chest.

"I feel the same way...But I can't shake this feeling that we might be getting into something much deeper...Not really bad...but just..different." Marik stated, running a hand carefully through his love's hair.

"Now that I think about it...I have the same feeling...Oh, hey, we're about to land."

--Domino, at the time of Malik's waking--

Seto yawned, carefully separating himself from Joey and Mokuba before stretching and checking his watch. Seeing the time he cursed under his breath and started waking the others.

"Come on! We're going to be late to pick the Ishtars up!" He hissed as he went around shaking each of the others, throwing a few pillows at Yami and Royko to wake them rather then risk getting close enough to dislodge them from each other.

"Nngh...What're you going on about, Kaiba?" Yugi asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"Ishtar? You mean Malik and Marik? I don't remember getting word of their coming." Ryou stated, sitting up fully awake next to Yugi. _'Oh no...I hope Bakura can contain himself around those two...I know he misses them terribly but...He can't blow his cover...'_

Royko, at the mention of the Ishtars, had shot to a sit, but he acted as if nothing was wrong when the others looked at him curiously. Quickly he grabbed one of the pillow's the CEO had thrown at him and Yami and threw it back, hitting Seto square in the face, earning himself a icy glare from said brunette.

"Hn? Royko?" Yami asked, sitting up soon after Royko, luckily he hadn't noticed the strange reaction Royko had to the Ishtars being mentioned. Only Ryou, Yugi and Seto had seen that, and only Ryou knew the cause.

"Uhm, yes Yami?" Royko replied, turning and brushing some stray hair out of the Pharaoh's face just as Yami went to do the same with Royko's, both blushing slightly afterwards.

"Ah...Nothing. What about Malik and Marik?" Yami asked, switching the subject as he looked at Seto, who finally managed to get Mokuba and Joey awake.

"Big brother got a call from Isis a few days ago, asking for a private jet to take them--meaning Isis, Odion, Malik, and Marik, out here to Domino. It was going to be a surprise for everyone, I think." Mokuba answered before his brother could, yawning lightly afterwards.

"Eh? Really, Seto? That's surprising...Why didn't I know about this?" Joey asked, now fully awake as well.

"Because, pup, it was a surprise for all of you...But I guess since Mokuba just told you all it's no longer one..." Kaiba replied coolly, glancing away. "Now hurry up and get ready to go, we have to be there in..." He checked his watch again, "In 15 minutes."

Automatically, as soon as he finished stating the time they had to be at the landing site, everyone scrambled to get ready quickly, Royko and Ryou darting upstairs to change clothing.

/Bakura, are you ok/

/What? Of course I'm ok...Just a little shocked is all, don't worry about me, Ryou./

/Ok, if you say so...Just be careful when we get there...Malik might be a bit../ Bakura cut his hikari off, sounding slightly annoyed.

/'A bit slow but Marik is as quick as lighting on some things' I know, Ryou..I'll be fine./

/Alright. Head's up, Yami's coming your way./

With that last thought Ryou snapped the link closed and Bakura raced to slip his version of the ring into his pant pocket, seeing as the area around his neck wasn't a very good hiding place for it anymore since he started dating Yami.

Just barely after he slipped the ring in his pocket, Yami rounded the corner into his room, fully dressed with his normal, black, tight fit clothing accompanied by several belts. "Hurry up, everyone's waiting on you."

"I'm ready, sorry," Royko replied quickly, kissing Yami before the two headed downstairs, where they put their shoes on and headed out the door.

--Airport--

"Stick with me, or else you won't be able to get into the Kaiba Jet section," Seto stated coldly as he led the way through the crowded hallways, towards the far end of the Airport. Once they got there, the Kaiba brothers talked with one of the security guards for a moment before leading the way into a small lounge area.

"Make yourselves comfortable, apparently the jet left later then planned, so we have a few extra minutes before they get here," Mokuba said, smiling happily at the others as he and the elder Kaiba sat down, yawning.

The others nodded, sitting down in silence for a moment before Yami's head snapped up with a small 'oh.' and he turned to Royko, with a small smile. "Before they get here I want to warn you about--" he was cut off by a familiar voice calling to them.

"Hey! Yugi, Ryou!" Malik cried out as they got off the plane, running towards his two fellow hikari's before Marik had a chance to stop him.

"Malik!" Yugi and Ryou shouted at the same time, laughing as their Egyptian friend tackled them both to the ground happily.

"I never thought we'd see each other again so soon! I've missed you guys so much!" Malik stated, hugging the two before helping them to a stand and looking around, forgetting an important detail in the excitement. One of which he was harshly reminded of when his eyes focused on Yami, overlooking Royko for the moment.

Seeing the sudden change of expression coming over his friend's face, Yugi grabbed his hand and led him over to where Royko was standing next to Yami. "Malik, Marik, this is Royko. He's Ryou's twin brother."

Smiling, Royko nodded and shook each of their hands, avoiding direct eye contact for the moment. "The...Better half us two, so to speak," he added, smirking lightly.

"Hey! Just because you're stronger and have a better build means nothing!" Ryou protested.

"Actually, it means a lot," Marik chimed in, finally managing to lock eye contact with Royko. After a moment of staring at each other, Royko averted his gaze, but not before Marik saw something in the twin's eyes that he thought he recognized, but shook it off and went to greet Yugi and Ryou as well.

"Yami, what was it you wanted to tell me?" Royko asked as he pulled his gaze away from Marik, turning to look at his companion with a curious expression on his face.

"Oh, I was only going to tell you that these two," Yami gestured to Malik and Marik, with a slight smile on his face, "are a bit crazy. Marik is Malik's yami." That being said, the pharaoh turned and waved to Isis and Odion who had finally made their way over.

"Hey! We're not crazy!" Malik protested from where he was now stationed in front of Marik, who had his arms wrapped around him.

"Yes...Not at all crazy.." Marik added in a sarcastic, letting his 'third eye' show on his forehead while he said it, and since Malik couldn't see it, he didn't realize his yami was making fun of him.

With a small smile Isis walked over to where Yami and Royko were, nodding her head in greeting to Royko before bowing slightly to the Pharaoh. "My king."

"Isis, you don't have to be so formal. We're friends," Yami stated softly, kissing the back of her hand to show what he meant before turning and shaking hands with Odion, who had followed Isis over. "It's good to see you all again...But may I ask as to the reason of this meeting?"

Smiling weakly, Isis looked towards Malik and replied softly, so that only Royko, Odion and Yami could hear, "I thought him being around some old friends might help...Ever since Bakura..." She trailed off, knowing better then to talk of the Tomb Robber with Yami when her brother was around.

Understanding what Isis meant, Yami nodded and glanced at Malik, a slight frown visible on his face as he did so. _'If I didn't think it was for the best, I wouldn't have done it..'_

After everyone had exchanged hello's and Royko had been properly introduced to the others, Seto led them out of the building, telling Isis that their possessions would be brought to their new house and would be waiting to be unpacked when they themselves got there.

"Now, how about we all go out for some food?" Yami and Kaiba spoke at the same time, exchanging glances when they realized what they did, before everyone started laughing and agreed that breakfast would be a good idea.

With that being said, they all piled into the CEO's limo and headed towards the nearest restaurant.


	7. Dreams in the shadows

...so much for my chapter a day thing...i think i might just mass upload everything and then go back and edit later because i have an excuse this time...for once. I, have been working on ch 16 for you guys and i forgot to get the rest of the chapters up...i hope to finish the chapters by sunday...

Bakura: Could we get on with it?

Yeah, yeah. Just wait a minute. Impatient person. For the shadow 'dreams' I don't have them in italics for a reason that is revealed in eiher chapter 8 or 9...I don't remember anymore. So, I'm sorry for any mistakes that might be in here and such. Feel free to like, review and critize any information I might have wrong here and such. So long as you can correct me, and not my creative lisence.

Seto: Ok, now. Onto the damn story.

Alright, Alright.

Once again;

Seeing as certain symbols don't like to show for me, things are going to get a little complicated;

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Royko-Bakura/

/Royko-Bakura to Ryou/

-Yugi to Yami-

--Yami to Yugi--

(Malik to Marik)

((Marik to Malik))

(((Author's notes)))

Disclaimer: If I owned YuGiOh, the series wouldn't even be close to being over.

Side note: I'm putting the mind link references up just in case in the future I start using them more often. I perfer to keep things like what's said through the links a secret most of the time...

The Dreams in the Shadows

All throughout the meal Royko could feel Marik watching him, sighing mentally to himself he continued eating the food he had ordered and tried to ignore the guilty feeling he was getting from it all. _'Not only do I have to keep myself a secret from the Pharaoh, but also from my best friends..'_

/Bakura, are you alright?/ Ryou had been watching his yami from across the table for awhile now as he picked at his food, and had grown worried at the vibes he was feeling through their mind link.

/Oh, I'm fine Ryou...I only have to keep a important secret from my best of friends, besides you of course../ Came the tomb robber's sarcastic reply, sounding slightly irritated. /..The pharaoh is one thing, but Malik and Marik../ Bakura trailed off, sighing inwardly.

/If you can keep it from Yami, whom you obviously love, I'm sure keeping it from the other two won't be much of a problem./

/You don't get it, Ryou. I keep it from the Pharaoh because I'm almost guaranteed a one way ticket to either hell or the shadow realm if he finds out. Neither seems very appealing to me../

/But he might give you a second chance.../

Bakura didn't seem to hear Ryou's last words as Yami had suddenly reached over and placed a hand to his lover's forehead, making Royko snap out of his trance and look up, confused.

"You're burning up, Royko...Are you feeling alright?" Yami asked softly, a worried expression on his face.

"I feel fine, Yami." The white haired boy stated, sounding throughly confused by the sudden concern Yami had shown. It wasn't until then that he became aware that everyone was watching him with the same worried expressions. _'What is this? There is no way that I could have a fever and not feel the symptoms...They must be trying to trick me or something.'_

"You don't look fine, that's for sure...White as a ghost." Malik spoke up, frowning as he saw the look on Royko's face.

"You don't feel any different from earlier, do you?" Marik's voice sounded, barely above a whisper as he locked gazes with Royko for the second time that day. Seeing the guilt in the brown eyes, he frowned inwardly, the Bakura he knew never felt guilt, or he never showed it. _'Perhaps I'm wrong?'_

"I...Now that I think about it, I do feel a bit light headed.." Royko stated slowly, a hand slipping into his pocket for a moment, grasping his copy of the ring in hopes that it would 

help him, but no such luck. All he felt when he did so was his energy being drained faster. _'What is it trying to do to me?! Taking my energy like this isn't right! I'm supposed to be the one to call upon IT not be called upon by it.'_ Bringing a hand to his head he quickly stood from the table, his head tilted down. "I'm...Going to go for a walk, alone." He stated softly, sternly as he turned and exited the building.

Yami started to stand, but before he could run after his partner, Marik's hand stopped him. "He said he wanted to go alone..." The blond stated, slightly coldly. "So let me go. I can hide myself easily."

Sighing, Yami nodded, and sat back down. "Very well...You go then."

Giving the pharaoh what he hoped to be a reassuring smile Marik stood and slipped out the door after Royko.

**Thunk!**

Bakura threw his item against the wall of a ally, angrily. "You're not supposed to do this to me!" He hissed, falling onto his knees soon after. "I can't survive for long without you and you're sucking all my energy out of me!"

Marik watched silently from the shadows, effectively hidden while he watched, frowning. _'How much I would give to run out and pounce him right now...'_

After a moment more of yelling at his item Bakura seemed to pull himself together, and snatched the ring off the ground before shakily standing, leaning with his forehead against the wall. "I know you're there...Come out." He muttered, slipping the ring into his pocket again.

"Bakura...I knew the shadows would not hold you for long." Marik slowly walked towards his friend, smiling. "Nothing can hold the King of Thieves."

"As true as that may seem...It's not. I'm afraid my ring can hold me as long as it wishes to now..." The spirit replied, sliding down the wall to a sit again. "Marik, my time of wreaking havoc and mayhem on this world is done...I've decided that I won't be a pawn for fate to play with any longer. You mustn't tell anyone of who I really am. Not even Malik."

"Kura...My friend, why? Why do you keep yourself a secret from everyone?" The blond kneeled down next to Bakura, pressing a hand to his face, it was burning with fever.

"Now that the Pharaoh has his memories back, I wouldn't last a second if he ever found out who I am...His love is for Ryou's twin. Not for a lowlife scum such as my true self." Sighing Bakura, looked up into the lavender eyes that were staring down at him. "How did you know it was me, Marik?"

"When you know someone as well as I know you, it's hard not to recognize them." Marik stated simply before bending down and picking Bakura up bridal style before heading out of the ally. "You rest...I promise I won't tell anyone else about you, but just so you know, you're not scum.."

"Whatever...You say..." The spirit muttered, before he lost all conscious, head resting on Marik's shoulder.

**--Shadow Dream Sequence--**

Bakura walked down a dark hallway, looking around aimlessly, thinking. _'Where in the world am I?'_ Hearing his thoughts he stopped, frowning. Why was this place so familiar? "Some thing's not right..."

A small shiver went through his body as he suddenly realized why everything seemed so familiar to him. This was where he had been trapped the last time the Pharaoh had sent him to the shadow realm, where he was before he escaped back to the real world, where he was now living a lie.

"Why am I here?! I've done nothing to deserve this! Not this time! Why did you put me here!?" he fell to his knees, holding his head. Who was he talking to? _'I've truly lost it if I think there's someone else here listening to me yell out at nothing...' _

A shadow appeared over Bakura, staring down at his cowering figure. "Why do you always do that? Automatically get so angry about one simple thing..." The Pharaoh's voice reached his ears, causing his head to snap up, staring strait into the violet eyes that looked down on him.

"What do you want, Pharaoh?" He asked, as coldly as he could, as he stood, staring at the wall behind Yami. "Do you really have to punish me further by coming here to watch me cringe?"

"I would have thought that you would enjoy the company, thief. I do not come here to watch you cower in fear of your own crimes," Yami replied coldly, staring strait at Bakura, as if daring him to look into his eyes.

Sensing this, the tomb robber shifted his gaze to a nearby torch, watching the flame dance in front of the ancient hieroglyphics that had been craved into the wall. Why was he back here? Didn't his millennium ring free him of this place already?

Something dawned on him, the ring...The ring put him there, but why?

"Before, you asked why you were here...I'm wondering, do you really want to be reminded of it?" Yami's voice broke through Bakura's thoughts, causing him to blink and shift his gaze to finally meet the Pharaoh's.

Catching the tomb robber's gaze, Yami smirked, locking it into place with his own, almost as if he had paralyzed the thief. "So? Do you want a reminder? Answer me," he demanded as he kept their gazes locked.

"Do not try to boss me around like one of your servants, Pharaoh." A small flame lit up in Bakura's eyes before he replied, a small growl in his voice. He was trying so hard to show the hate he was supposed to have labored for the Pharaoh, to not let the truth slide through his features.

"I'll take that as a yes to my question then. You really should learn how to hold your tongue, thief," Yami stated simply before his eyes flashed, forcing Bakura to be overcome by unpleasant memories of evil deeds he had committed, not all of them, only some.

This successfully brought Bakura to his knees, holding his head again, whispering to himself softly, "No...That's not me anymore. It's not who I am!" He let out a small cry, before remembering the other presence that was there. This was no time to show weakness.

Quickly regaining himself he started to stand, only to feel himself pushed back down, this time into a laying position. Caught off guard by this he didn't even think to struggle against Yami, who now had him pinned against the floor.

"You know...It's alright to be afraid sometimes."

"Says you."

"What's that supposed to..." Yami started, only to be cut off by Bakura's ranting.

"You think you can just come in here and tell me what's alright and what's not? Well fuck you Pharaoh. I decide what's right and wrong for me. Not you. Not fate. And not the damn ring!"

**Smack!**

Yami's hand connected with the side of Bakura's face, effectively shutting him up, allowing Yami to speak.

"Look. I was only trying to offer some advice. Just because I haven't been here to erm...Visit for a while doesn't mean that I'm going to leave you alone. So why don't you just cut the tough act?" he stated softly before standing, turning away and vanishing without a trace.

Bakura just laid there for a moment in silence, before closing his eyes. "Please let me open my eyes and wake up from this nightmare in my bedroom...Please..."

**--End Shadow Dream Sequence--**

"..Please..." Royko stirred slightly, turning over onto his back before shooting to a sit, a hand going to touch his cheek where Yami had slapped it in his 'dream'. _'That couldn't have been a dream...It was too real, and my cheek still stings..'_

"Feel any better, love?" Yami's voice sounded from the doorway, making the white haired boy look up to where his companion was leaning against the door frame, a rather smug look on his face.

Blinking, Royko took notice of Yami's expression, _'Probably a little left over from his visit...I know that wasn't just some dream, and I have the red mark to prove it.'_

With a small sigh he shook his head, rubbing his cheek. "I think I might've hit my cheek on something when I was asleep...It's stinging...Marik must have a hard shoulder," He made his voice sound as innocent as possible when he spoke, automatically coming up with a excuse for the mark before anyone had the chance to see and ask. _'At least this way he won't be able to connect Royko to Bakura as easily..'_

"Ah, really? Let me take a look," another voice sounded, this time much closer as Royko felt a set of hands separate his hand from his cheek, and run over the red mark that was left there, thankfully not a hand print. "Wow Royko, looks like you smacked it pretty good."

Royko turned his head slightly, ending up coming face to face with Marik. Jumping back a bit he pulled his hand away and looked towards the clock. "How long was I asleep?"

"About a day, for someone who claimed to be fine, you sure were in pretty bad shape." Yami smiled and moved from the door to the bed, kissing Royko's lips softly before continuing, "But that just gives me all the more reason to make sure you and your brother take better care of each other."

"We take good care of each other already," the white haired teen replied before turning away, trying to advert his gaze from his lover's face, which only ended up with him locking gazes with Marik. "I'm, uh..Still kinda tired...I think I'll go back to bed now.."

Royko started to lay back down before two different sets of hands stopped him, Yami and Marik both stating in unison, "Oh no you don't. You're eating something first." Which, in turn, caused him to curse slightly.

Exchanging glances with Marik, Yami led Royko out of bed and down the stairs into the kitchen, Marik following close behind. When they entered the kitchen Yami automatically released Royko and jumped to the side, allowing the white haired teen to be tackled to the ground by Yugi, Ryou and Mokuba.

"I guess we should've warned you, huh?" Marik stated, laughing softly as he started to step over the four on the ground. Before he could place his foot down on the other side of the pile, a hand caught his ankle and tugged, pulling his leg out from under him, and in turn, causing him to face plant into the cool kitchen surface.

Everyone started laughing when he looked up, his now red face twisted into a irritated expression as he growled and stood up.

"That's what you get." Royko sneered softly, finally managing to get the other three off him so he could stand, automatically being forced into a seat at the table by Seto and Odion. "Ugh. What is this? 'Push Royko around' day?" He asked, slightly annoyed, when Joey, Isis and Malik started setting dishes on the table while everyone else sat down as well.

Yami smiled as he sat down with Royko and Ryou on either side of him, Marik sitting down on the other side of Royko. "I guess you could say that, yes," Yami teased lightly, kissing his love's cheek before turning to look at all the food that had been made, slightly surprised.

Seeing the expression on the Pharaoh's face, Isis smiled. "We went shopping while you and Marik watched Royko," she stated simply before motioning to everyone to dig in.

Royko sat there for a moment, completely stunned by everything, only to be broken out of the trance as he found both Marik and Yami placing food on his plate from each side of the table.

Marik had placed a sandwich of sorts, some potatoes and some fruit salad on one half while Yami put some corn-on-the-cob, a buttered roll, and some regular salad on the other half, the two looked at each other smiling before turning to their own plates.

Royko considered the food for a moment before reaching over his plate and snatching a apple from the fruit bowl, biting into it happily.

Ryou, seeing this, and the looks on Marik and Yami's faces afterwards, burst out laughing. "You two should've seen that one coming," he stated, before also reaching over and plucking a apple from the fruit bowl.

Yami pouted, crossing his arms. "Awh come on Royko, eat more then some apple. Please?" he pleaded.

Royko sighed, finishing his apple before taking the bread roll off his plate and biting into it. Once he swallowed he looked at Yami, "There, happy?"

Marik smirked, shaking his head at the annoyed expression on the Pharaoh's face. "Royko, unless you want to collapse again, I suggest you eat what's on your plate," he stated darkly before continuing to eat what he had on his own.

Letting out a annoyed growl Royko sent a glare at Marik before turning to his plate, frowning at the food on it before he took a bite from the fruit salad. He had always been attracted to fruit, therefore he'd eat that and then pick at everything else. _'Let's just hope that the damn ring won't do anything this time.'_

Once everyone had finished eating, and had helped clean up, Royko was allowed to return to his room and curl up under the covers.

He didn't fall asleep, however, he wouldn't let himself. For he didn't want to risk waking up in his previous prison again. _'Damn ring..Why did you put me back there?' _

That was when it occurred to him that the ring might have been trying to help him keep his true self a secret, by putting him back into his prison when he slept, at the same time that Yami had come to 'visit'. Instantly, he regretted throwing his possession in the ally way. It had known what was going to happen, and had helped its owner despite his frustration.

Slowly, without realizing it, Bakura drifted off to sleep, or, to what seemed like sleep to anyone who looked at his body. In truth, he had returned to his prison in the shadow realm.

**--Shadow Dream Sequence--**

"Bakura, are you just going to lay there like that for the rest of eternity?"

"What if I am? I'm tired Pharaoh, go away. Don't you have more important things to do rather then bother me? Like play petty friendship games with those twits..." he trailed off, letting out a small hiss of pain as he attempted to sit up, effectively smacking his head against the sharp corner of a torch holder.

Bringing a hand to the cut on his forehead he cursed slightly before standing, this time careful not to knock into anything. "Damn torch..."

"You could always go somewhere with no torches," Yami stated, smirking.

"I know that. Maybe I like it here," Bakura replied defiantly, looking at his now bloodied hand._ 'I hit it harder then I thought...but then again, head wounds do bleed more than they should...'_ He let out a small sigh before turning to rip some of his robe to dress the wound with, but before he could Yami stopped him.

"Let me do that...It wouldn't be a very good job if you did it blindly, I can see the wound," he stated, pushing Bakura against a wall and making him sit down before tearing some of his own clothing into a long strip.

"Pharaoh..." Bakura started, not reacting as Yami tended to his wound.

"Yes?"

"Why do you do this? Come here...When all I've ever done to you is cause you grief? It makes no sense at all, you know."

Yami smiled as he finished tending to Bakura's wound and pulled away. "Yes, I know. But if I were to leave you here alone, the shadows would control your darker memories, the ones that you are trying to forget. Rather then myself...And I promise you, I would not wish that upon my worst enemy which ironically, is you..."

"Yes but that doesn't mean you must be so..."

"Nice? No, it doesn't, and as you can see from my last visit, I can be mean. But I choose not to be, it's not who I am."

"That makes no sense."

"Yes it does, it makes plenty of sense. You just refuse to listen to it. Just as you refuse to accept help from others. Like it or not, thief, your not as strong as you wish to be and make yourself out to be."

"No one asked you," Bakura growled, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.

The pharaoh merely smirked, "On the contrary, I believe you did ask me."

The tomb robber didn't reply, he merely sat in thought for a moment before frowning and starting another conversation, in the same way as the last one. "Pharaoh..."

"Yes?"

"Why didn't you just kill me? You could've killed me and left me to have my heart judged...But you didn't. Why?" 'Kura asked, looking up into Yami's violet eyes.

"Because I didn't think your heart was ready to be judged..." Yami replied simply, leaning against the wall opposite of the one Bakura was sitting against. "I don't expect this prison to hold you forever, thief..."

"You mean there's a way out of here?" Bakura let a bit of hope show on his face, in order to lead Yami to believe he still hadn't found it.

"Other then the way I come and go? Perhaps..."

"And you're telling me this, why?" Bakura looked away, sounding slightly annoyed.

Raising a eyebrow, Yami smirked. "Dunno, but if you really don't want it, I could just make you forget..." He started raising one of his hands towards Bakura, who automatically threw his own hands up protectively.

"No!"

"Didn't think you'd want that.."

"Look Pharaoh, I'm tired. And I want to sleep. So why don't you just leave?"

Yami frowned. "You should know by now that if you go to sleep without me here then you won't get any rest at all. You've already tried that many times, I know because most of the time I'd come in and find you in the midst of a nightmare of sorts."

Bakura merely scoffed, looking away to hide the slight worry in his eyes. "Well what if I'd rather have a nightmare then have you here while I sleep?"

"Well then, I could just give you one right now, while you're awake...It would be more painful and realistic that way." The pharaoh growled slightly, he was getting frustrated with this.

"If you expect me to beg you not to, I won't. But really Pharaoh, I'm exhausted, and want sleep. So why don't you.."

"Then sleep. I'm not going anywhere for now. It's not like I'm going to do anything to you."

Bakura growled slightly. _'Why does he have to be so damn stubborn?!'_ "Look, 'Mr. High and Mighty', I don't need you here. There's no reason for you to..." He never got a chance to finish, because at that moment Yami had grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him to his feet before slamming him into the wall.

"Look, thief. Your sense of time might be messed up from being in here so long but mine isn't. Today marks you being locked in here for a year. Which means today you'll most likely be forced into some of your most painful memories if I'm not here," Yami hissed, his violet eyes narrowing as they stared strait into Bakura's chocolate colored ones.

Blinking, Bakura turned his head away, frowning."I never asked you for your help..." _'But I don't want those memories to come back...Why can't I just be allowed to forget...'_

"I know you didn't. But I can see it in your eyes that you don't want to be forced to re-experience any of those memories again. So why don't you just let me help you?" With that, Yami released Bakura, letting the thief drop to the ground as he returned to his place on the opposite wall. "Just go to sleep."

Letting out a defeated sigh, Bakura pulled his knees to him again, wrapping his arms around them like before, and rested his head on his knees, allowing himself to slip off into actual sleep.

**--End Shadow Dream-- **

YSF: wow, angel actually did getting better at writing as these...except for changing a few words here and there, all i had to fix was capitalization and punctuation... read and review please!


	8. Little Thief boy and protective Sibling

Ok, as promised. here's chapter 8. Don't ask me why Angel started a Shadow Sequence right after she ended one. I don't know why. It just happened. Oh well. Enjoy.

Oh, and, people are going to start going ooc alot now...because we said so and its funny.

**Yami: **-sniggers about something-

**Bakura:** -glares at Yami- Not. A. Word.

**Ryou: **Yea, don't want to ruin anything. -smile- Enjoy the chapter!

Once again;

Seeing as certain symbols don't like to show for me, things are going to get a little complicated;

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Royko-Bakura/

/Royko-Bakura to Ryou/

-Yugi to Yami-

--Yami to Yugi--

(Malik to Marik)

((Marik to Malik))

(((Author's notes)))

Disclaimer: ...I already told you. I. DO. NOT. OWN. YUGIOH DAMNIT! D; You're going to make me go emo!

**Bakura:** Oh please. Over-reacting.

Side note: I'm putting the mind link references up just in case in the future I start using them more often. I perfer to keep things like what's said through the links a secret most of the time...

**The little Thief boy and protective sibling **

**--Shadow Sequence**--

When Bakura woke up again, it wasn't in his room at Ryou's house. he was still on the 'floor' in his so-called 'prison'. _'What am I...?' _

His thoughts were interrupted when he started to shift slightly, and found that he wasn't on the floor, but someone's lap. There were two strong arms wrapped around his body protectively. _'Oh please no...He said he wasn't going to do anything...'_

"You were having a nightmare..." Yami stated, unwrapping his arms from Bakura's body and waiting for him to get off patiently. "So I tried calm you down...Sorry."

Bakura didn't answer, he just stayed there, on the Pharaoh's lap, thinking. He wasn't aware that he could move now, it was a amazingly comfortable position, warm too.

"Uh...Thief?"

"Hn?"

A small tint of pink came over the Pharaoh's face as he looked away. "You can get off now, you know..."

At Yami's words, Bakura suddenly became aware of what he had been doing, and felt his face heat up as well, but rather then getting up he smirked and shifted ever so slightly, rubbing against Yami when he did so, on accident, of course. (not) "What if I don't want to? It's rather comfortable like this, you know..."

A small shudder went through Yami's body when Bakura moved, causing him to close his eyes for a moment to regain himself. "Don't push it, thief. Get off."

Bakura merely smirked. The Pharaoh gave him the perfect edge to tease him further, but remembering his overall position, he didn't say anything, and rose to a sit next to Yami, who was leaned against the wall. Bakura made sure to position himself so the his back was to the Pharaoh, rather then leaned against the wall as well. "Ya...er...Pharaoh?"

"Yes, thief?"

"Why did you have me in your lap again?" Bakura kept his eyes focused on the ground in front of him, thankful that the Pharaoh couldn't see his face, as there was a faint blush on it.

Yami blinked a few times, choosing his words carefully, "Well...Soon after you went to sleep, you started having a nightmare...So I calmed you down, and returned to where I was sitting...Then you started to have another one, so I calmed you down again...You kept having them, so I just decided to try something else and..."

"So you pulled me onto your lap and rocked me like a frightened child!?" The spirit of the ring felt his embarrassment slowly turn to rage at the thought of being treated like such. He clenched his fists, even as Royko he hated having such things done. _'But here I don't have to show any control over that anger...'_

Yami simply smirked, seeing a chance to tease his rival, and moved quietly so the he was on his knees right behind the tomb robber. The next second he had his arms wrapped around the thief's torso, and had pulled him so that his back was leaned against Yami's chest.

Bakura was so taken aback that he didn't even struggle, which gave Yami the chance to whisper into his ear, "What? The little thief boy doesn't like being cuddled? Didn't seem to mind when you were sleeping, or when you woke, for that matter."

Bakura felt his cheeks heat up at Yami's actions and words. He had no idea what to say, and knew that struggling against the position the Pharaoh had him in would be pointless unless he did it a certain way, and he didn't want to go down that road.

_'Maybe when I get him alone in my room at Ryou's...'_ He mentally slapped himself. _'No! Stop thinking about that right now! I'm supposed to hate him! Not be thinking about such things!' _

Not being able to come up with anything, Bakura shifted slightly and crossed his arms the best he could. He was starting to get that uncomfortable feeling you get when you know your trapped in one way or another and have absolutely no reasonable ideas for escape.

Yami, knowing that he had Bakura trapped, continued. "The little thief boy can't think of anything to say? I didn't think he would...A child can't be expected to be good at arguing, especially just after they wake up."

He stopped for a moment, to see Bakura's reaction before a thought hit him, and he shifted his position slightly so that his legs were loosely wrapped around the other's waist, allowing him to move his hands along Bakura's chest, slowly moving to his sides. "I wonder...Is the little thief boy ticklish?" he asked softly, before his hands reached their destination.

At these words Bakura tensed slightly, shifting again. "P-pharaoh...Don't you dare..." he managed out, his eyes widening when he realized what Yami was about to do. Normally, at this point he would have a knife to the Pharaoh's throat, but, unfortunately, the only knife he had was on the other side of the room, and he was locked in the Pharaoh's grasp. _'Damn it..'_

Yami chuckled darkly, slowly and gently running his fingers over Bakura's sides, making the thief squirm ever so slightly. "So you are...I wonder...What would a innocent laugh from you sound like?" With that, he started tickling Bakura's sides relentlessly, throwing the tomb robber into a laughing fit.

"D-damnit Pharaoh! STOP!" Bakura cried out between laughs, squirming and trying to pull out the grip Yami had on him, needless to say he didn't succeed, seeing as the Pharaoh had his legs wrapped tightly around his waist now.

"Why should I? I think I enjoy hearing you laugh like this. So much better then that evil one of yours." After a few more moments of 'tickle torture', Yami ceased his attack to allow Bakura to catch his breath. "So...Did the little thief boy learn his lesson?"

"I don't...remember you...saying...anything about...a lesson.." Bakura panted out, now leaning against Yami's chest despite himself. He really couldn't help it, if he were to lean forward, it would be uncomfortable because of the legs wrapped around his waist, so leaning back was his only other option.

"Ah...That's true..I never did say anything about a lesson, but there is one. You'll just have to figure it out for yourself," Yami smirked, and once Bakura seemed to have caught his breath somewhat, he started tickling him lightly again, but only enough to make him squirm, not enough to trigger a laugh.

"P-pharaoh, stop that!" Bakura hissed, his body tensing as he attempted to pull away again, only to fail once again, as the Pharaoh had tightened the grip his legs had.

"You know..You really shouldn't try to order me around, thief. First off, you are in not position to do so, and secondly..." Yami ceased his tickling and leaned his head to that his mouth was right next to Bakura's ear. "A pharaoh does not listen to the orders of little boys...Especially of the thief kind." As a second thought he added, "Maybe if you begged me..."

"I shall do no such thing! And stop calling me that!" The tomb robber hissed, moving to use his hands in order to help free himself from the legs wrapped around his waist before his hands were caught in one of the Pharaoh's.

"Well then...I'll just have to teach you another 'lesson'...But not now..I have other things that I need to do today..." With that he unwrapped himself from Bakura's waist and stood, being sure to keep a strong grip on the thief's wrists. "Oh, and as for what I call you...It is only the truth."

Bakura felt his cheeks heat up again, with a mixture of both embarrassment and anger. "Release my hands, Pharaoh...Or else I'll..."

"You'll what, thief?" Yami sighed, shaking his head before he let go of Bakura. "Forget it, I must be getting back now...Try not to hit your head again, 'kay?" With that, he vanished.

"Ugh...I can't stand him. Well, maybe I can...But still. So damn cocky!" Sighing, Bakura shook his head and fell back to a lay on the ground, closing his eyes._ 'Take me back...Back to him...And out of the shadows. Please...'_

**--End Shadow Sequence--**

"..ko...Royko...Wake up...Royko, wake up!"

'Royko' let out a small groan as he felt himself being shook awake. "Nngh...Would you please stop that? I'm awake." Opening his eyes he found Yami staring into them, and was slightly taken aback by how close he was. _'I don't even get a few minutes to recover?!'_

"I'm sorry, love. But you seemed to be having a nightmare, according to Marik." Yami smiled softly upon seeing that his lover was indeed fine, before leaning down further to kiss him. "I was worried.."

"A...nightmare?" Royko frowned, sending a confused look towards Marik, who was sitting in the chair by the desk.

"You were thrashing and whimpering in your sleep...It worried me." Marik turned his head, giving Royko a knowing look. "Well, school tomorrow...Malik says that Isis wants me home today so we can go over some 'ground rules...' whatever that means. See you guys at school." With that, the blond stood and exited the room.

"That reminds me...Wanna head to the park after lunch?" Yami asked softly, laying down next to Royko as he spoke.

Royko turned onto his side to look at his pointy haired lover, and smiled. "How about we eat lunch at the park later, and play for now? I had a very...strange dream, and I really don't think I can wait till tonight..."

At this, Yami smirked and flipped over so that Royko was laying on his back again while Yami effectively straddled his stomach.

"Funny..The same thought just seemed to cross my mind.." He whispered, before both of them started working at getting the other's belts off, Royko having taken some liking to Yami's sense of style by now had started wearing two or three belts on his body, and of course hadn't changed clothing since he had passed out friday. (((A/N Yey 3-day weekends!)))

--**Meanwhile, turning our attention to a certain CEO and our favorite puppy...--**

"Pup, I'm trying to work. You can cuddle with your master later..." Seto sighed, he was sitting at his desk, laptop open, trying to type. Keyword here: **trying.** _'At this rate I'll end up having my way with him on my desk before I get to work...'_

A certain blond was sitting on his lap, arms curled around his slender body, with his head nuzzled into the CEO's chest, he was obviously tired. "But Seto, you've been working all morning! Can't you take a little break?" Joey whined in reply, pouting up at his lover.

After a moment of thinking, Seto smirked. "If I take a break chances are I'll never be able to look at this desk the same way again, and therefore never be able to focus on my work," he whispered into his beloved puppy's ear, his hands slowly moving to close the laptop and put it away in his infamous briefcase.

Joey's eyes widened, his cheeks heating up as he tilted his head to look at the brunette, fully understanding the words despite his exhaustion. "Seto! We can't do that here!"

"And why not, my dear puppy?" Seto asked in a smooth and seducing tone, stroking the blond's hair once he had put his laptop and briefcase off to the side, causing said pup to let out a small contented noise that made hi seem even more like a newborn pup in Seto's eyes. _'So cute...'_

"W-well..What if someone walked in?" Joey knew it wasn't very good excuse, but he didn't know what else to say.

The CEO raised a eyebrow at this, "It called locking the door and canceling a few meetings, pup," he stated before adding in a afterthought, "Then again, the puppy can just cuddle with his master if that is what he truly wants."

When the blond didn't reply and merely shifted slightly on Seto's lap, nuzzling further into his chest, the brunette smiled and stood, carefully lifting Joey up in his arms as he did so.

"I thought so...My little pup is tired," he whispered softly, setting Joey down on the couch the was on the other side of the room before moving to get the two some hot tea.

When he returned Joey was waiting for him patiently, in a cross-legged position, looking as if he were only half awake. Setting the two cups down on the table in front of the couch before sitting next to his beloved, Seto smirked, "You look so cute..."

This caused Joey to blush deeply and look away, before Seto pulled the blond onto his lap, and locked him into a deep kiss. Soon after, the brunette ran his tongue over Joey's lips, demanding entrance, of which he was automatically granted.

Almost as soon as Seto slipped his tongue in and started exploring the other's mouth, he heard Joey let out a small moan, practically begging for more. Eventually, however, the two had to pull apart for air, at that time Seto gently ran his hands over Joey's body, caressing it, touching in such gentle ways that caused the pup to let out what Seto seemed to think as _'The cutest little noise imaginable...I'll just have to remember this for the next time I need to persuade him to do something...' _

About a hour later Joey was found cuddled up on Seto's lap, sleeping peacefully as the brunette stroked his golden locks, gently humming as he did so. Seto enjoyed the time he spent with his puppy, and wanted to be able to spend even more time with him.

Yet, for some reason Joey refused to stay out longer then half-past 5 or 6pm on school days, claiming he had a strict curfew. Seto had also been noticing how tired his pup seemed to be lately, he almost always ended up asleep in the CEO's lap. _'Poor thing..What goes on at your house anyway?' _

Letting out a small sigh Seto gently moved Joey so that he was laying on the couch, rather then on the CEO, before standing and moving over to his desk where he began to work again, glancing up at 'his puppy' every so often to make sure that he was still sleeping. _'How is it that this always happens on weekends? I never get any work done till I get him to sleep..I should just make it routine, then again...It's more fun to be unpredictable.'_

**--Domino Park, 1:30pm, Yami and Royko--**

"You know, Royko...You're really different then I expected, seeing as you're Ryou's twin and all..."

"Oh, mind explaining?"

Our favorite couple was laying on the grass hill in their little private spot surrounded by trees (Where they had their first 'date'), cloud gazing. They had both realized that today marked their 3rd month anniversary of dating.

Yami had been thinking hard about the past 3 months as he and his loved one cuddled together, watching the clouds and pointing out shapes that they liked to one another. It was getting close to winter time (Royko had started school just after the school year started), so they wanted to make the best of the good weather while they could.

"Well, for one, I never thought you'd be so...mischievous. I mean, when we first met you seemed so shy..." Spotting a cloud in the shape of a bunny the Pharaoh lifted his hand and pointed at it. "Just like a bunny rabbit," he finished softly, smiling.

Royko couldn't help but smile sheepishly, "Well, first impression's are not always correct...If I remember properly, you first came off to me as a egomaniac...Like a mountain lion." He lifted his hand and pointed to a cloud that was shaped like a lion of sorts. "But, clearly, you are not. Unless you're hiding something from me."

Yami couldn't help but blush at this bit, shaking his head he laughed. "Now what would I hide from you? You already know that I'm the King of Games, a 5000 year old spirit, a former pharaoh, and that my arch rivals are the spirit of the millennium ring and Kaiba. Not much else to tell you."

Royko frowned slightly, quickly turning it into a smile. "You're right. I do know a lot about you..."

"Yes, as I do you. Like, how you are very different from your brother as you're stronger, less...innocent, a bit cocky. One thing I don't get though, is why you're so protective of him," Yami turned onto his side to look at Royko, "If one didn't know any better they would think that you were his big brother rather then his twin...Now that I think of it you're taller then him too.."

Royko felt his cheeks heat up at Yami's words. Did he really seem that protective of Ryou? _'Maybe its just natural for me to do...After what I've put him through I feel like I have to repay him somehow...And offering my protection is the only way I know how.'_

Silently he rolled over, pushing Yami onto his back again, just like Yami had done to him earlier. Instead of straddling his stomach though, Royko simply laid there on top of his partner, taking in Yami's body heat as he felt those strong arms wrap around him protectively.

"You know that I'll always be here to protect you, right, Royko?" Yami whispered softly as the white haired teen nuzzled into his shoulder.

"Yes, Yami...I do, and I must thank you..For such a long time I've felt the need to close myself off and be someone I'm not around others. To protect myself, but with you...With you it's different, I feel like I can be myself..." Royko trailed off, closing his eyes. _'Even if my real identity is in the shadow realm...I'm sorry for lying to you, Pharaoh...But I'm just not ready to risk ending this dream with the truth.'_

"There's no need to thank me, love...I'm just glad that I can make you happy," Yami replied gently, smiling down at him.

The two stayed like that for awhile, talking peacefully about random and less serious things as they cuddled, the clouds forgotten. Too soon, it seemed, the sun had set and Yami announced that they should be heading home and out of the oncoming cold.

Now, the two were walking towards Royko's place, crossing a bridge with another seemingly empty street below, when they heard voices coming from underneath them.

"Alright, pretty boy, hand over that trinket of yours and we won't do anything too drastic to you for running the first time," a rough voice sounded, loud enough to be heard clearly by the two teens on the bridge above who had stopped to listen.

"N-no! You can't have it!" A oddly familiar voice replied, it was soft, and had a slight British accent to it. _'Just like Ryou's.'_ Royko thought, his eyes widening when he realized what was going on.

After exchanging glances with each other, Yami started running towards the nearest set of stairs, not noticing that Royko wasn't behind him until he turned his head to see his boyfriend jump strait over the side of the bridge and down onto the street below. Landing in a crouched position on his feet. Yami just stared in awe for a moment before running down the stairs, reaching the scene seconds after Royko had.

"Let him go," Royko stated to the three boys who were staring at him like he was crazy (one of them had Ryou pressed up against the wall, trying to pry the Millennium Ring from his hand), in a dangerously low and calm voice, his head tilted down ever so slightly so that it put a shadow over his eyes.

"R-royko..." Ryou stopped his struggling to stare at his brother, surprised.

"Don't worry, Ryou. I'm here," the taller of the two muttered softly before returning his attention to the three boys again. "I'll say this one last time, and if you know what's good for you, you'll listen. Let my brother go."

Quickly, the leader (who was holding Ryou) recovered and smirked, turning to face Royko. "Oh yeah? Well what if I don't want to, huh? You two pretty boys can't take on all three of us," he smirked, glancing at Yami, who had just barely joined Royko.

"You sure that you want to test that?" Royko replied, sounding even more menacing now as he took a step forward, towards the leader.

The leader's smirked widened and he jerked his head towards his two friends, then towards Yami and Royko. "Take 'em." Seeing Yami's puzzle he added. "And make sure to get that trinket from the shorter one."

Yami flinched slightly at the idea of losing his puzzle, and reached up slowly, grasping it with one hand. He didn't even seem to notice the boy advancing on him.

Royko, seeing this, let out a small growl and jumped onto said boy, effectively tackling him to the ground before knocking his lights out with one swift punch. _'These idiots are lucky I can't send them to the shadow realm.'_

Then, there was a flash of light and the other one fell down to the ground, knocked out as well. Royko looked at Yami for a moment, then at the boy's body. "What'd you do to him?"

"Just showed him a piece of the shadow realm...He apparently couldn't take the mental stress it gave him." Yami smirked before the two turned towards the leader of the trio again, Royko taking a step towards him.

"Now, as I stated before, release my brother or else." The leader effectively dropped Ryou and ran off. "That's what I thought you'd do." Royko muttered before kneeling next to his brother, pulling him into a strong hug.

"R-royko...I.." Ryou trailed off after receiving a stern look from his 'brother', telling him that he needn't explain right now.

"Don't worry...I'm just glad you're safe. Were they trying to take it?" Royko asked softly as he stood, picking Ryou up bridal style and returning to Yami's side before both of them started towards Ryou's house again, Royko carrying the smaller version of himself.

"Y-yeah...I think they wanted to sell it or something..But don't worry, they didn't lay a hand on it."

Royko nodded, then frowned. "You should've just let them have it rather then let yourself get hurt over it..."

Ryou's eyes widened in shock as he stared up into his yami's eyes, slightly hurt by the words. /You know I could never let them take away the Millennium Ring, 'Kura! It would've effected you!/

Bakura sighed inwardly, returning his gaze to where he was going so Yami wouldn't have to steer him out of the way of poles and such. /I know...But Ryou, I've already caused you enough suffering in the past...I don't want you to get hurt because of me../

/What's in the past should stay in the past! None of that matters now Bakura! I thought you understood that!/ Then, Ryou closed the link, causing his yami to wince slightly and set him down for him to walk on his own.

"..What were you doing out here alone at this time of night anyway, Ryou? I thought you were going to the shop with my aibou..." Yami spoke up, feeling the tension that had been set between the two 'brothers'.

"Well, thats the thing...We were together when those three showed up. But they didn't see the puzzle so I told Yugi to meet up at my place, then we split apart and ran...And those guys followed me, so Yugi should be waiting safe and sound at the house," Ryou replied, looking away, "I just hope he hasn't called Malik and Marik..."

"Why would he do that?" Royko asked curiously as they started up the steps to their front door and Ryou fumbled with the handle.

"Well, because those two seem to think that..." Ryou got cut off as he stepped inside and got tackled to the ground by Marik, who seemed angry yet relieved at the same time.

"DON'T YOU EVER DO SOMETHING SO STUPID LIKE THAT AGAIN RYOU! What if they had a gun or something?! You should've had Yugi call Yami and stalled until he and Royko got there!" Ryou winced when Marik started yelling, but has Marik's voice slowly dyed down to normal speaking level he seemed to calm down. "We've been worried sick!"

"Well, you needn't have been. Me and Yami took care of it." Royko spoke up, pulling Marik off of Ryou and looking at him strait in the eye. "I think my brother has gone through enough for today with his Millennium item almost being stolen from him. Wouldn't you, Marik?"

Marik's eyes widened for a second before they narrowed and he nodded. Bakura was trying to tell him something silently through their eye contact, but he couldn't figure it out. Finally letting out a small sigh, Marik closed his eyes and looked towards the other occupants of the room. "Hey, would you guys mind giving me and Royko a minute to talk, please?"

Everyone seemed to look at Yami, who nodded and ushered everyone else out of the room as Marik sat down on the couch and Royko opposite of him. "Ok, 'kura, spill. What's wrong?"


	9. Decisions, nightmares, and the truth

Uhm...Ok then, on to the story I geuss...since my mindcan't think of anything to put here...

**Once again; **

**Seeing as certain symbols don't like to show for me, things are a little complicated;**

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Royko-Bakura/

/Royko-Bakura to Ryou/

-Yugi to Yami-

--Yami to Yugi--

(Malik to Marik)

((Marik to Malik))

(((Author's notes)))

**Disclaimer:** ...I don't own YuGiOh! But just wait until I get enough money to hire a good lawyer! like...like...Uhm...Seto! Yea!

**Seto: **-sweatdrop- O...kay then...considering i'm not a lawyer...

**Side note:** I'm putting the mind link references up just in case in the future I start using them more often. I perfer to keep things like what's said through the links a secret most of the time...

Decision, Nightmares, and the Truth.

Bakura sighed, placing his head in his hands tiredly. "Marik...I don't know how much longer I can keep this up...I love him so much. But, if I don't tell him soon then what would happen if he found out on his own?"

"Well...You wouldn't know, really. It depends on weather or not he truly loves you."

"Ok...But there's something else. I'm still a prisoner to the shadow realm...It's like, when I go to sleep here...I'll be back there, rather then in a dream."

Bakura looked up just long enough to see Marik raise a eyebrow before continuing. "And for some reason, every time I've gone there so far he shows up soon after..I didn't escape the punishment...I'm still forced to remember things that I don't wish to..I have to sleep in that prison, and withstand the nightmares...But, when he comes to 'visit' or whatever..It's like he actually cares for me...for Bakura. It doesn't make any sense to me..." he trailed off, looking back down into his hands again.

"Finished now?" Marik waited for his friend to nod before continuing, "Ok, calm yourself. A lot of the things the Pharaoh does can't be explained. He hates to see people suffer, even those he supposedly hates. That's how he is...although, that doesn't mean that he can't be mean or cruel...Because everyone knows he can when he wants to be. Even Royko." The blond smiled, leaning back against the couch, giving his friend time to answer.

The spirit frowned. "Well, yes..He's proven that to me a few times...Both as Bakura and Royko...But I still don't get why he would suddenly care so much for me...For Bakura.."

"Maybe he's trying to help Bakura change...Maybe he believes that his greatest enemy can still become a friend. Look at me and what I did at Battle City..." At the mention of Battle City both fell silent for a moment, as if overcome by memories of everything that had happened then.

Both were pulled out of their thoughts by a soft knock on the door, and Ryou's voice sounding through it. "Royko, Marik? May I come in?"

"Yeah Ryou, you can come in." Bakura called back, waiting for his hikari to enter and close the door behind him before turning back to Marik, who nodded and stood, exiting the room the way that Ryou had entered, leaving the two to talk.

"Bakura?"

"Yes, hikari?"

"Are you ok? You seemed so stressed today on the way home...Yami told me that you weren't acting like you usually do...He's worried."

"I'm sorry...It's just this whole secret keeping thing is getting to me..." Bakura went on to explain everything about what had been happening the past few days when he went to 'sleep', only stopping to make sure his hikari was still with him, or to wait for him to finish laughing about the things that occurred in his shadow prison.

Once he had finally finished, Ryou took a moment to calm down before speaking, "I see...Well, you could always tell Yami..And result to pleading for him to forgive you.

"No way in hell." The spirit crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Well, then you'll just have to wait for it to uncover itself...But, I need to ask you something, would you mind if I told Yugi? I mean, he's good at keeping secrets. I'm sure he'll help us keep it from everyone else. Besides, you got to tell Marik, so you have your best friend there to help.." he finished quickly, seeing the look on Bakura's face. Silently he prayed to himself that his last sentence would help his yami understand that he was having a hard time lying about it as well, probably a harder time.

A moment of silence passed between the two, during which Bakura was thinking hard about his hikari's question. He did have a point with the Marik thing. Wasn't it fair that Ryou got to tell his best friend as well?

_'But his best friend just happens to be Yami's hikari.'_ Bakura reminded himself quietly. _'I should give him a chance though...It's just such a big thing, and what if it effects their relationship? Then the runt would be hurt too...' _Finally the spirit sighed and rubbed his temple. "Give me a week to consider it...Okay?"

Ryou's eyes lit up with hope, and he nodded. "Okay, thank you Bakura!" With that he jumped onto his yami, hugging the life out of him.

"H-hey! Don't be thanking me just yet! I never said yes!" Bakura sighed, but let his arms wrap around his hikari slowly, returning the hug.

"I know, but you're considering it. That counts for something, you know," the smaller of the two replied happily, pulling away from Bakura and grinning at him before turning around and yelling, "Hey Yami! You can have your boyfriend back now! But he looks kind of tired so you might not get anything from him if you don't hurry!"

He snickered as the others came in, and before Royko could tackle him he ran behind Marik, who he knew would protect him from his 'brother' just to spite his best friend.

**--Royko's POV--**

Letting out a irritated growl I stand up, allowing myself to be pulled upstairs by Yami, who, as soon as we reach my room, pushes me down onto the bed and pins me with a passionate kiss. Which can only mean one thing for me, I'm in for a world of torture tonight.

As soon I let out a small moan from the kiss, wanting more, Yami pulls away. That bastard, I knew this was going to happen. "Yamiiii!" I whine playfully, "You cannot tease me like this tonight!"

The Pharaoh smirks, straddling my stomach before leaning down and whispering in that sweet and seductive voice he likes to use on me, "I wasn't going to tease you, but Ryou said that you were tired. So I thought I'd wake you up first..."

He's evil I tell you! Doing this to me when its so late. Pouting I cross my arms over my chest and try my best to stay mad at him while I stare into his violet eyes, they're willing me to give in to him. Damn those eyes.

After about a minute of staring at his eyes I let out a defeated sigh and turn away. "You know you really.." He leans down slightly, getting me to lock gazes with him again. "...Shouldn't..." Why is he smirking like that? He's closer now, is he going to kiss me again?

He suddenly breaks from my gaze and attacks my neck with kisses, rotating between kissing and nipping. I let out a small moan, the rest of my sentence forgotten in the slight pleasure this brings me.

Damn it. I shouldn't have made that sound, the bastard stopped and is now giving me another one of his smirks, the ones he reserves specially for me. The one that tells me he has special plans in store and there's nothing I can do to stop his plans for the night.

"You're no fair," I whine as he starts to help me out of my shirt, being careful to touch my chest with a feathery touch, running his hands over it lightly. I can tell that he's admiring my body now, that look on his face lets me read him like a open book.

"You really think so? I could be crueler.." He replies softly, locking gazes with me before taking my hands in his own and moving them above my head. Shit, this can only mean one thing. I feel a rope being wrapped around my hands, binding them together, I'm too caught up in his violet eyes to really process what's happening, however. Once again, damn those violet eyes. Rendering me helpless while he has his way with me.

Finally he finishes tying my hands together, wait. Somethings not right here, there's something between my hands, making my task of untying myself near impossible. My eyes widen as I twist my head to see what it is that's getting in my way, and realize he tied my hands to one of the poles on the back of the bed.

"Hey!" I cry out, obviously distressed about this little detail. He just smirks at me and turns my head back to look at him.

"You're the one who said I don't tie very well. I simply fixed that little problem, love." God I hate that smug look he's wearing right now.

"No one ever said it was a..." I make a sharp intake of breath as he suddenly bends down and kisses my chest, running his tongue over a small area of it.

His gaze drifts up to my face and he smiles softly at me before moving up and capturing my lips with his as his hands explore my body gently, trying to find any sensitive spots he still might not know of, I pray inwardly that he doesn't try tickling me.

Finally he pulls away and we both pant, I see him reach up, and suddenly my hands are free. I stare at him slightly confused, but he just smiles and rolls off me, sitting up and leaning against one of the bedposts a little away from where I'm laying, his head tilted down to hide his face.

"Yami?" I sit up and curiously crawl closer to him, trying to look into his face to see if I did something wrong somehow. Finally I end up crawling onto his lap, trying to bend my body 

and head so that I can look at his face. No luck. I let out a small whimper, now truly afraid that I did something wrong.

He looks up at me...and smirks. Suddenly his arms are wrapped around me, catching me completely off guard. Shit. "You're so cute when you're like that, you know that?" he whispers softly in my ear as he hugs me to him.

Letting out a small sigh of relief I calm down slightly and shift so that my back is pressed against his chest. He instantly shifts his arms to fit the position, wanting to keep a strong and comfortable hold on me.

I instantly understand his silent message, and relax further into his arms. I finally allow myself to fall asleep, protected from the world in his arms. Perfect.

**--Shadow Sequence, Normal POV--**

Bakura stirred slightly in his corner, opening his eyes just long enough to see his 'prison' empty. No Yami, good, he could get strait to sleeping.

_--The Nightmare--_

_Bakura found himself standing on the edge of some trees, near a drop off into the Nile, about twenty feet below. He was holding onto a small hand tightly, protectively, as he watched his parents fight about something, someone. His sister, his twin sister._

_He and his sister were about 5 years old, their parents had taken them here to do something important, apparently. Or, that's what his father had told Bakura when he had asked. But now, Bakura was frightened. _

_Not for himself, but for his sister, Meg. His father had pulled out a knife when they had reached the drop off, and had started to move towards Meg, but his mother had stopped him. _

"_You cannot do this to your own child!" He heard his mother scream, causing him to automatically tighten his grip on his sisters hand. He now understood what the 'important something' was. His father wanted to kill Meg, because she was the second out of the two of them to be born._

"_Shut up, woman! You cannot be expected to understand such matters! I'm doing this for our family!" his father had yelled back, his mother falling to the ground, lifeless, after a quick slash from his father's knife._

_Beside him, Meg whimpered and gripped his hand tighter. "I'm scared, brother..."_

"_Do not worry, Meg. I won't let anything bad happen to you," he replied softly, releasing her hand before stepping in between his sister and his father, who had started towards them again._

"_Bakura. Move out of the way," his father hissed, clutching the knife in his hand._

"_No father. I can't let you harm Meg. She hasn't done anything wrong!" Bakura replied, holding his hands out to either side of him to show that he didn't plan on moving. _

_His father just narrowed his eyes and launched forward, catching the front of Bakura's shirt and tossing him aside with it. "I will punish you for your insolence later, boy." He muttered before taking a step towards Meg again, who took a step back, and found herself standing on the edge of the drop off._

"_Brother help me!" She cried out helplessly as their father started to close the gap between the two._

"_Meg!" Bakura growled, struggling to his feet and quickly pulling out the knife he always carried around for protection, he launched himself at his father, stabbing him square in the back just as he was about to stab Meg. "I am sorry, father. But I promised Meg that I would protect her," he muttered as his father turned his head to look at his son before dropping to the ground, dead._

_Meg slowly started to take a step forward, but as soon as she set her foot down the ground beneath her crumbled, causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards, off the cliff. "Brother!"_

_Bakura's eyes widened as he watched his sister start fall off the edge of the drop off, too terrified to move. To help her. His mind screamed at his body to run and catch her arm before it was too late. _

_Finally after what seemed to be forever he ran forward, his hand snatching out to catch his sisters outstretched one, but he had moved too late, and her hand was just out of his reach as he himself fell off the cliff, trying desperately to grab her hand, and failing. _

_A few minutes later he hung off the edge of the drop off, hanging onto the edge with one hand as he stared at the raging waters below him. His sister's lifeless body having been swept away with the current. _

_Slowly he pulled himself back onto the cliff, crawling over to where he was shaded from the sun. Turned away from the two corpses, he cried silently to himself. "It's not fair...Meg...I'm sorry..."_

_--End Nightmare--_

Bakura shot to a sit, his body shaking terribly as he crawled into the nearest corner of his 'prison' and pulled his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them as he buried his face into them, doing all he could to keep himself from crying out in anguish. "I'm sorry Meg..."

Slowly he felt his eyes water, then he lost all self control he had over himself and let his tears flow freely down his face, soaking his clothing as he silently cried at the memory of his sister. _'It's not fair...It's bad enough that I had her taken away from me once...But twice? It's not fair...'_

Suddenly, he felt angry, and slowly pulled himself to a stand, moving over to where his only knife was and grabbing it. All the time tears flowed silently from his eyes. "I know that I'm a goddamn failure!" He yelled out, slashing the knife as his arm and creating a deep cut on it.

"I failed her!" Another slash at his arm, another cut.

"I broke my promise to her! To Meg! I murdered my father to save her! But I couldn't stop her from falling off!" Another three slashes at his arms, then he threw the knife at the wall and fell to his knees, eyes closed.

"Please don't make me relive it again...Don't make me fail her again..." he cried softly, bending over and holding his head in his shaking hands as blood spilled freely from the wounds on his arms. He didn't care if he bled to death, didn't care if his body outside of the realm was bleeding, he didn't care anymore.

He hated himself, more then anything. The first promise he had failed to keep had ended in murder and death. He had lost his whole family that day.

He had watched his mother be murdered by his father, and had in turn murdered his father trying to save his sister, who had died anyway, and it was all his fault. He hadn't gotten to her fast enough because he let fear get in his way.

"..Thief?" Yami appeared in the room, looking around for Bakura before he spotted the tomb robber. His eyes widened at the sight his gaze fell upon and he ran forward.

Bakura was shaking uncontrollably, most of his body covered in a mixture of tears and blood, tears flowing from his eyes as he held his head. "Go away, Pharaoh..."

"Bakura, if you think I'm going to leave you like this, then you're truly mistaken," Yami replied, quickly reaching where the thief was sitting on his knees in the center of the room, picking him up carefully. _'Bakura..I can't let you do this to yourself.'_

Moving to the closest wall he set Bakura against it gently and kneeled down next to him to look at the wounds. He was surprised when the tomb robber didn't struggle nor reply, and was even more surprised when he realized that Bakura was crying. For although the tomb robber had his head tilted as far down as it could go, his tears were still falling as freely as his blood.

"H-here...Don't move," Yami stated softly, tearing a few wide strips from his shirt before he started to wrap Bakura's wounds with them. Luckily a few of them were close together, so he didn't have to use too much cloth for it.

The whole time Yami was dressing his wounds, Bakura didn't move or make a sound. He just sat there, lost in thought. _'Why didn't he just leave me to die? Damn Pharaoh...Getting in the way..' _

Feeling Yami finish and pull back Bakura lifted the less injured of his arms and quickly wiped the tears from his eyes, praying that the Pharaoh hadn't noticed that he was crying. Automatically his tears stopped, and after a few moments more he had regained control of himself for the most part.

Of course, Yami had already noticed, he just chose not to address it for the thief's sake. "Thief?" he asked softly, now sitting a little ways apart from Bakura.

"Thanks," Bakura simply stated, barely above a whisper, as he pulled his knees back to his chest and hugged them carefully, ignoring the pain in his arms.

Turning his head to face away from the Pharaoh, he rested it on top of his knees carefully, watching the wall silently. Suddenly, he felt arms wrap around him, gently pulling him into the Pharaoh's lap as he uncurled from his feeble position.

"Bakura...What happened?" Yami asked gently as Bakura leaned against his chest, looking as if he was only half there. _'He must be exhausted...'_

Sighing, Yami gently stroked the thief's hair, surprised to find how soft it really was when it looked so rough. Curiously Yami reached over to one of Bakura's 'batwings' and gently tugged it, pulling it down a bit from its position and watching as it bounced right back into it.

It was at this point that Bakura let out a small giggle a reached up to bat Yami's hand away weakly. "Don't touch those, Pharaoh."

"Ah...So they're sensitive, are they?" Yami replied, tugging the one again and smiling when he heard Bakura giggle again as well.

"Yes. Now would you _please_ stop?" came the reply as his hand was batted away yet again.

"Since you said 'please', I suppose I could stop...But you have to answer a question of mine first," he replied softly, starting to stroke Bakura's hair again.

"Question? And what would that be?" The thief tilted his head back to look up at the Pharaoh curiously.

Yami smirked softly and locked gazes with Bakura before speaking, "Are you my angel, Royko?"

Bakura's eyes widened and he felt his heart stop. He had no idea what to say, or what to do. Here he was, trapped in the Pharaoh's gaze, in his arms, and no matter how hard he tried, he could never lie to Yami when those eyes, those damn violet eyes, were locked with his.

"I'll take your stunned silence and shocked look as a yes..." Yami's expression changed to that of a triumphant one and he kissed Bakura's forehead gently, pulling the spirit back out of his thoughts.

"H-how did you..?"

"You looked way too much alike, for one. The only difference was these," Yami replied softly, indicating Bakura's batwings before continuing, "And there were a few other clues...My little thief boy must be losing his touch." He finished, smirking down at the Tomb Robber on his lap.

Bakura's surprised automatically gave way to guilt, and he looked away from Yami, staring at the ground. "I'm sorry...for lying to you. I just...I wanted to be free...to forget and make new memories.." he sighed, closing his eyes, "I thought that I had rid myself of this place, but after awhile, when I lost conscious in the real world I'd be back here..."

Yami stopped him, placing a finger to his lips before moving his hand underneath his chin and lifting his head up so that he was looking strait into those violet eyes. They were dancing, he couldn't find any anger or hate in them anywhere. After a moment of looking into them Bakura smiled weakly. He didn't need to explain anything, and he knew it.

"Do not worry yourself over such small things, love. I understand why you did what you did." With that, Yami lowered his head and captured Bakura's lips with his own for a moment before surfacing for air and pushing some stray hair from the spirit's face. "Now for that lesson I promised the little thief boy.."

Bakura whined slightly, cuddling up closer to Yami and closing his eyes. "Can't it wait? I'm exhausted."

The Pharaoh chuckled, pulling lightly on one of the thief's batwings, causing Bakura to giggle and shift slightly. "I expected you to be asleep when I came,"

"Well...I was sleeping before you came but..." Bakura trailed off and shook his head, "I don't want to think about it...Can I sleep now, please?"

Yami thought a moment on Bakura's words before deciding to just leave it as is and nodded, kissing the top of his head, purposely brushing against his left batwing to hear yet another giggle as the thief shifted into a more comfortable position and closed his eyes.

"Sleep well, Bakura..We have much to talk about when you wake..." Yami whispered softly as he stroked Bakura's hair, gently lowering him into dreamless sleep.

**--End Shadow Sequence--**

After Bakura had slept for a little while the two returned to their bodies in the real world, just in time for Ryou to come in and yell something about being late if they didn't hurry.

"Late?" Bakura murmured, rubbing the 'sleep' out of his eyes as he watched Yami stand and start to look for their uniforms.

"Did you forget, thief? School today," Yami replied softly, giving him a small smile before throwing Bakura's uniform at him.

"Wait. Did he just call you 'thief'? Does that mean he knows?" Ryou frowned, looking slightly disappointed that he didn't get to tell Yugi before Yami found out.

"Yes, I figured it out by myself, too," Yami replied, smirking at Bakura triumphantly, the spirit of the ring simply replied by sticking out his tongue childishly, "We'll be right down Ryou, go make sure Yugi's ready, ok?"

"Everyone's downstairs. Kaiba's offering to give us a ride, thats how I woke up. Joey called asking why you and Yugi weren't at the shop. Then when I told them our alarms didn't go off Kaiba said that he'd pick us up. We're just waiting for you two," Ryou replied before leaving them to get ready.

"God I hate school..." Bakura muttered before he started pulling his jacket on, wincing as soon as it touched his arms, and pulled it off again to examine them.

"They're going to be sensitive to touch for awhile. The wounds won't show here too much, just come up as red marks and be extra sensitive, like raw skin. So you might have to go without your jacket today, I'll carry it for you," Yami stated, picking up said jacket and smiling at Bakura, who looked down.

"I can carry it on my own, Yami...You really don't have to.."

"But I want to, now come here so I can fix your belts," Yami chuckled, pulling the white haired boy over to him gently before stooping down and adjusting the two belts Bakura wore with his uniform so that they fit correctly, "You must really be out of it, love..."

"Sorry...I'm just distracted I guess. Thinking and such..." Bakura replied, blushing ever so slightly as Yami finished and the two headed towards the door. "Hey Yami?"

"Yes, love?"

"Could you please not tell the group who I really am...I mean, they'd hate me, the way they talk about me at times...About Bakura," 'Royko' looked down as they walked towards the stairs.

"Of course, Royko. We'll tell them when you feel ready, ok?" Yami smiled when his partner nodded before leading him down the stairs, where the others waited for them to get their shoes on before everyone piled out the door and into Seto's limo.


	10. Weekend in the Woods Start

It's sad when i see more and more of my influence in these chapters...almost done with the reposting!

**Once again; **

**Seeing as certain symbols don't like to show for me, things are a little complicated;**

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Royko-Bakura/

/Royko-Bakura to Ryou/

-Yugi to Yami-

--Yami to Yugi--

(Malik to Marik)

((Marik to Malik))

(((Author's notes)))

**Disclaimer:** I'm not gonna keep repeating myself...ok? I'll let you know if anything changes that would make me saying that i don't own Yugioh a lie...

**Weekend in the woods; Start**

It was Friday, finally the week was done and Ryou would find out from Bakura if he could tell Yugi. He was sure that the answer would be yes since Yami already knew, and wouldn't like the idea of keeping it from his hikari any longer.

"Royko." Ryou said cheerfully as the group walked out of the school yard towards the Game Shop (Seto was half carrying half leading Joey), pulling his 'brother' out of the conversation he was having with Yami.

"Yeah Ryou?" He asked, looking slightly annoyed at being interrupted.

"The week is up...What's your answer?" Ryou asked quickly, glancing at Yugi who looked confused by their conversation.

"Eh? Oh. Right...Uh..." Royko glanced at Yami, who raised a eyebrow at him before he turned back to Ryou and sighed, "Go ahead, but please make sure he understands everything correctly." /And that he knows not to tell anyone else./ he added silently through their link.

Ryou's face lit up and he nodded before grabbing Yugi's hand and pulling him back and away from the group, out of earshot.

"Ryou! What is it? I was talking to Honda about duel monsters!" Yugi whined, frowning at his best friend.

"Sorry, Yugi. But this is important and I can't wait any longer." Ryou apologized before continuing, "You have to promise not to tell anyone else. Marik and Yami are the only other's who know. And Yami just figured it out last night somehow."

"Ok, Ryou. I promise I won't tell anyone, now hurry and tell me," the shorter of the two friends replied, doing his best to keep pace with Ryou, who nodded and proceeded to tell him about Royko, or..Bakura.

"And that's whats been going on, I'm sorry for not telling you sooner Yugi but Bakura wanted to keep it a secret from everyone. I don't know how Yami found out, but Marik figured it out the day the Ishtars got here, when he went out to make sure Royko was ok and came back with him unconscious," Ryou finished, taking a deep breath and waiting for Yugi to recover.

"Oh...Wow Ryou." Was all that Yugi managed out in reply, he seemed to be distracted.

_'He's probably talking to Yami...'_ Ryou sighed and nodded before the two ran and caught up with the group, the two hikaris exchanging glances with their darker halves.

Royko seemed a little nervous at first, but a reassuring smile from Yugi seemed to wipe it all away and he smiled back softly before returning to his conversation with Yami.

"See? It wasn't so bad was it?" Yami whispered gently as the group reached the shop and headed around the back to the house, where they would all pick up their camping stuff which they had all left at Yugi's the day before, so it would be easier to just go strait to Yugi's place then to the campsite from there.

"I guess not, but it was Yugi. He's as forgiving as Ryou is..." Royko replied softly as Yami handed him his bag, shouldering it after he slid his jacket on (his arms had healed by now), he then turned to help Ryou find his stuff, Yami turning to help everyone else.

"Thanks for letting me tell him." Ryou stated softly when the spirit came over and started carefully searching for Ryou's bag with him.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry about it." Royko replied as he located his brother's bag and snatched it, handing it over before they stood up strait.

"You and Yami are going to behave on this trip, right Royko?" Came Marik's voice as he appeared behind his friend, smiling.

Royko felt his face heat up for a minute before he retorted, "I'm more worried about you and Malik behaving." It was Marik's turn to blush.

"Yeah, well I mean...Now that Yami _knows_..." Marik trailed off at a look from Bakura, quickly turning and going to look for his hikari.

Half a hour later everyone had gotten their stuff and the carpooling set up had been assigned. Here's how it goes;

Seto's car (5 seats):

Joey (front seat),

Yami (back seat, middle),

Royko (back seat),

Mokuba (back seat)

Mai's car (5 seats):

Tea (front seat),

Serenity (back seat),

Ryou (back seat),

Yugi (back seat, middle)

Marik and Malik were using Marik's motorcycle and Duke and Honda were taking Duke's car, with everyone's bags, the food, tents, etc.

"Alright, can we get going now people?" Seto asked, glancing at his watch, it was already 5:00. _'So much for getting a head start.'_

Everyone nodded and piled into the cars, Duke leading the way with Mai and Seto's cars right behind, all of the cars were convertibles and everyone had voted on having the tops down.

Marik was driving in and out of the three cars, showing off on the motorcycle (he was trying to keep Malik entertained), by doing some tricks both on and off the road, everyone dubbed the pair as the ride's entertainment.

After a while Marik decided to take a break from messing around, and was riding next to Seto, who decided to make some use of the two.

"Hey, go ask Duke how much farther till we get there, will you?" he called out to Marik, who decided to come even closer to the car rather then yell back.

"Why don't you just call him?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"Because, this seemed more effective then calling them both," came the reply. Malik, who was holding onto Marik's waist and leaned against him obviously tired, could've sworn that Seto had given him a small smile, but dismissed it. Why would the cold-hearted CEO smile at him anyway? He was only bored out his mind...Oh, that's why.

"Come on, Marik. It'll be fun to play messenger, it'll give us something to do." Malik stated before Marik could reply to Kaiba.

Marik just sighed and nodded, giving in to his hikari. "Alright...We'll be right back." With that the two sped up ahead to Duke's car.

"I wonder just where this campsite is...We seem to be going pretty far out." Royko mused aloud, leaning his head against Yami's shoulder tiredly. They had been driving for about a hour now, and the sun was due to set in about half a hour.

"Wherever it is I'm sure it's worth the drive," Yami replied, stroking his boyfriend's hair gently. Curiously he reached over to where Bakura's batwings would normally be and played with the hair that seemed to have replaced them, smirking when Royko tried and failed to stifle a giggle. "Aha."

"Stop that," Royko whined, reaching up and batting Yami's hand away from that area of his hair.

Yami silently obliged and returned to stroking the white locks with one hand while the other wrapped around Royko's waist to make sure he couldn't pull away. Making a note to himself to play with Royko's hair later and find that spot again (Bakura had hidden it fairly well up till now), Yami smiled.

Mokuba, seeing this, reached over and touched the same bits of hair the Yami had been playing with before. "You're sensitive to touch there?" he asked, smiling widely when Royko let out another small giggle and squirmed slightly against Yami's grip, trying to pull out of Mokuba's reach.

Yami, of course, didn't allow this, smiling at Mokuba, "He's very ticklish, it seems...and those few strands of hair seem rather sensitive for him as well," he stated softly, his free hand moving and tickling one of the white haired boy's sides lightly, causing him to giggle and squirm even more.

Mokuba's eyes lit up at this. "Wow. I didn't think Royko ever laughed unless it was at someone else's expense...It's cute," he finished and started to play with the strands of hair again, causing Royko to go into a giggle fit, Yami holding him in place for Mokuba.

Seto was watching the three through his rear-view mirror, almost pitying Royko for being at the mercy of the two boys. He knew that when Mokuba found something he liked to do he could do it for hours, and that Yami would do anything to help if it entertained the young Kaiba. Specially if it meant hearing Royko's cute, innocent laugh.

Everyone but Mokuba had heard that laugh before. At school the other day, when Yami had randomly started tickling Royko lightly during lunch while the group was sitting outside on the grass, throwing the teen into a small giggle fit. Everyone had commented on how cute it was when Yami decided to finally stop and allowed Royko, who was a deep shade of red by then, to catch his breath.

Marik and Malik came back over to the car, both smiling when they saw what was going on in the back seat. "Having fun back there?" Malik asked, causing Mokuba and Yami to halt their activities for the moment and turn their attention to the motorcycle riders. Royko merely turned red, looking at Marik, who was smirking at him. Then he finally realized what Marik had meant when they were talking at the shop.

Soon afterwards, he reached up and tapped Yami on the nose, muttering. "You better behave on this trip..." Yami just smirked at him and turned back to listen to the conversation Seto and Marik were having.

"Duke said we should be there in about a half hour, then it's about a 15 minute hike from the cars. But my bike should be able to follow the trail, so I can help bring up some of the heavier things with it, but we're going to pull over and stretch once I tell Mai and get back to Duke."

Seto nodded in reply, showing that he understood and that the two could go inform Mai. Before doing so though, Marik switched to where he was driving next to the passenger's side of the car, equal to the back seat.

"Having fun, Royko?" he asked, smirking when he saw his friend's face heat up.

"Lots," The teen replied simply, glaring at the blond driving the bike before he drove away, heading to inform Mai on the plan. _'I wonder if I could convince him to give up the bike up for the rest of the drive...' _Royko's thoughts were interrupted by Yami and Mokuba, who decided to continue the tickle torture.

Soon enough, the cars all pulled over onto the side of the road and everyone got out, stretching. Luckily for Bakura, Marik and Malik had gotten sore by now from the bike, and Marik offered him the chance to drive it the rest of the way.

Bakura jumped at the chance, but Yami, Ryou and Yugi, knowing who they were dealing with, all turned down the chance to ride with him, and Seto and Joey refused to let their siblings onto the bike no matter who was in control of it. Honda and Tea were both taking over the other cars because Mai and Duke were tired. So Malik ended up riding with Duke and Honda while Marik took Royko's spot in the back of Seto's car.

"Royko, you know how to drive a motorcycle?" Mokuba asked, eyes wide as the white haired teen hopped onto the bike happily, running his hand over the side of it.

"Yep. I can do some pretty nice tricks on it too," came the reply, that's where Marik decided to chime in.

"You can do tricks as long as you're 100 positive that you won't crash or something," he stated, glaring at his friend. The last time Marik had let Bakura use his bike to show off he had ended up needing to buy a new one.

"Don't worry, Marik. I don't think I'm going to be doing any tricks tonight," Royko reassured the blond as a sheepish smile came over his face at the memory, it had taken Bakura weeks to regain Marik's trust with his bike, a time during which Bakura almost became even more insane then he already was.

Mokuba frowned at this, but was immediately distracted by Seto calling for everyone to get back into the cars before they left without them.

Marik gave Royko one last look before getting into the back of Seto's car as well, Royko just smiled innocently and started the bike, circling around the cars once while they started before pulling out onto the rode in sync with Honda, who was taking directions from Duke.

The rest of the ride was greatly entertaining for Bakura, who had started to mimic Marik's moves from the beginning of the ride for Mokuba, who had practically begged him to show off a bit, and had then stated that when he got old enough he was going to learn how to ride 'one of those things.' Something of which earned Royko a glare from Seto, who didn't like the thought at all.

After muttering a apology to Seto, Royko had returned to playing on the bike, weaving in and out of the cars like they were moving cones meant for him to suddenly drive in front of.

Fortunately for the drivers, they all knew that they didn't need to worry about avoiding the motorcycle because Royko had already proved to them that he was as skilled as Marik with the bike.

Once they reached the end of the rode for the cars and the start of the hike, Royko and Mokuba convinced Seto and Marik into letting Mokuba ride on the motorcycle with Royko while he took the tents and etc to the campsite, which Duke had previously informed Royko how to get to from there.

"Just be careful, you two," Seto stated with a sigh as Marik finished fastening the first haul to the back of the bike and gave Royko a thumbs up to say they were good to go.

"Don't worry about it, Kaiba. I won't let any harm come to your little brother. We'll take it nice and slow," Royko stated before starting the bike and heading down the trail at about half the speed he had been driving at before hand.

"He calls that slow?!" Seto cried out, watching them go.

Yami and Marik just chuckled. "Well, he does need some speed to get up the hill, Kaiba. I'm sure they'll be fine. Come on, lets start getting our stuff up there," Yami replied softly, shouldering both his and Royko's bag while Marik shouldered Mokuba's and his own. Seto, having volunteered to carry some of the heavy items, had asked Marik to take his brothers stuff while Joey carried the his (Seto's).

"Yami's right you guys, if we don't want to still be walking in pitch blackness then we better get going," Mai stated, pulling three flashlights out, tossing one to Duke and another to Tea, keeping the third for herself, "these should help us see the path, and help Royko and Mokuba to see us. Duke will lead, Tea will stay in the middle of the group to make sure rich boy doesn't trip or something, and I'll stay in the back."

Seto rolled his eyes, grabbing a few random items before indicating that he was ready and following the rest of them up the hill to the campsite, Duke leading. Mokuba and Royko passed them twice before they reached the site, where the explanation for the slowness of the two on the bike was waiting for them.

Royko and Mokuba had started up a fire and set a kettle full of water over it to boil and had also set up a few of the tents, next to the fire the two had formed a small note in the dirt that read:

_Get yourselves something hot to drink, we'll bring the rest of the stuff up, there isn't much. /Royko and Mokie_

"Cute..." Yami muttered, just as the water reached boiling point, and the kettle whistled.

"Here, we'll take care of this...What do you all want to drink?" Ryou asked, carefully taking the kettle off the fire while Yugi pulled out several cups. Once everyone agreed on tea, Ryou quickly and carefully went about finishing making it and the two of them handed out the cups, just as Royko and Mokuba drove up with the rest of the stuff.

"You're all very welcome," Royko stated as he helped Mokuba off the bike before starting to get the rest of the stuff, automatically finding Marik taking hold of his arm and throwing him towards Yami, who pinned the shocked boy on the ground.

"I'll get this, I think Yami wants to finish what you were doing in the car," Marik stated with a smirk, earning a glare from Royko, who soon after was giggling uncontrollably due to both Yami and Mokuba tickling him.

"Poor guy.." Joey muttered as he watched the three, doing his best to sound pitying, but despite his tone he wore a amused look on his face along with everyone else.

"Some people are just...Erm...cursed with having such nice laughs," Tea stated with a shrug as she sipped at her drink, exchanging glances with Mai, who seemed to be holding back a laugh.

After a few minutes, during which Malik had gone to help Marik, Yugi finally decided to try and help poor Royko. "All right you two, let him breath will ya?" he called over to the three on the ground.

Mokuba and Yami immediately stopped, Mokuba running over to get the cup Seto had waiting for him while Yami pulled Royko into a hug, whispering something that only the white haired boy could hear. Royko's eyes went wide before the two stood up and he announced that they were going to head to bed, quickly pulling Yami into their tent, which was one of the few already set up.

Mai was about to say something to protest, but Marik just shook his head and said, "Don't try to stop them from going, they won't listen."

"Besides, there's not a lot left to do and Royko was the one who did most of the work when we were setting this up, so I think that if he wants to drag Yami off he can," Mokuba added, which caused Mai to give in automatically. Who was she to ask him to work even more?

"Well, we better get the other two tents up..." Seto stated before standing. The sleeping arrangements had already been planned out, the Kaiba brother's had brought three tents, one for Seto and Joey, another for the girls, and the last one for Yugi, Ryou, Mokuba, Honda, and Duke to share (it was a big tent so they'd have plenty of room).

Yami and Royko had a tent of their own to share, as did Marik and Malik. At first it was going to be that Royko slept with the four other boys while Yugi and Yami shared a tent, but after Ryou had informed Yugi about everything on the way to the shop he had insisted on switching places with Royko, who had accepted gratefully.

Everyone nodded in reply to Seto's words and stood, the only tents left were the two blond's, and the girl's tent. So while the boys went about setting up the two tents, Tea, Serenity and Mai agreed to finish setting up the rest of the stuff and to securing the food.

Surprisingly enough, the girls were done before the boys, probably because Mai had a lot of experience with such things and therefore did most of the work while also teaching Tea and Serenity things.

Although they ended up having to ask Mokuba to come over and let them lift him up so that they could finish securing the food items, which had caused all the boys to break down laughing. Well, all but Seto, who merely gained the slightest smile of amusement on his face.

Finally everything was done, and Marik put the fire out before everyone turned in for the night, after deciding that Yami and Royko had to cook in the morning for being the first to go to turn in.

Marik had found Malik's sketchbook and a pencil and had written a note to the two, stating the decision. He had then ruffled the side of the tent slightly, to make sure that they knew someone was about to intrude, before sticking his head in and throwing the note strait at Bakura's head, retreating as soon as he saw that he had hit his target, in order to dodge a pillow that was thrown at him.

**--Inside Yami and Royko's tent...--**

"What's this?" Yami muttered, reaching over and snatching the crumpled up piece of paper while Bakura launched a pillow strait at where Marik's head had been a second before.

"Damnit I missed," The thief muttered, starting to crawl out from under the blanket he and Yami had be cuddling in to retrieve his pillow, only to be stopped by Yami.

"Forget it, I'll be the little thief boy's pillow tonight," Yami whispered in a seductive tone, smirking and causing Bakura's face to heat up. "Now, hand me that flashlight please?" The Pharaoh pointed just behind his partner, where a flashlight was laying just a few feet away.

Bakura blinked and turned around, reaching over and grabbing the flashlight before taking the note from Yami and holding the light over it so they could read it.

_Since you two lovebirds decided to turn in early tonight and leave us to finish setting up, you get to be woken up early by rich boy tomorrow to cook breakfast. /Marik_

_P.S. The only reason I'm waking you two up is because none of these nitwits can get up early without a alarm clock. And don't think that I won't go in and poor water on you two if you don't wake up. Just a warning. /Kaiba_

"Uhm...Yami, I hope you know how to cook. Because I don't," Bakura stated after reading the note, frowning slightly.

"Don't worry, I do...This'll give me a reason to teach you how to, though," Yami replied, smirking again as he turned off the flashlight and set it aside along with the note. "Anyways, I promised that I'd give you another lesson, so let's go somewhere more...private,"

Bakura blinked, looking at his lover confusedly before realizing what Yami had meant and nodding. "Alright.." He muttered before curling up next to Yami and burying his head into his chest, slipping away from the 'real' world.


	11. The picture, the hike, and the cliff

...blargh needs to think of things to put here or esle will resort to random words

**Once again; **

**Seeing as certain symbols don't like to show for me, things are a little complicated;**

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Royko-Bakura/

/Royko-Bakura to Ryou/

-Yugi to Yami-

--Yami to Yugi--

(Malik to Marik)

((Marik to Malik))

(((Author's notes)))

**Disclaimer:** Doesn't 'disclaimer' say enough on its own? No? Well, I DON'T OWN IT! STOP HARRASSING ME ABOUT IT!

**Side note:** I'm putting the mind link references up just in case in the future I start using them more often. I perfer to keep things like what's said through the links a secret most of the time...

**The Picture, The hike, and The cliff**

**--Shadow Sequence--**

Bakura laid on the floor of his 'prison', doing his best to not fall asleep. After a few moments he felt a tug on one of his batwings, causing him to giggle.

"You really should learn to laugh like that more, my little thief boy.." he heard someone whisper into his ear just before he was pulled up into a sitting position in Yami's lap. "I could teach you how..." Yami mused, smirking as his gaze fell upon Bakura's two batwings again.

"Pharaoh, a tomb robber is not one to laugh in such ways," 'Kura replied simply, closing his eyes to try and hide his batwings before Yami decided to start playing with them again, but he wasn't fast enough and didn't have nearly enough control to focus on such things when he was being thrown into small giggle fits.

"Oh really? You seem to be laughing like such right now though, or can you not help yourself?" the Pharaoh replied, smirking as he gently played with the two batwings to prove his point.

"Y-yami! Stop that!" Bakura whined between giggles, starting to pull away, only to be pulled back by Yami's arm, which was wrapped firmly around his waist now.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Yami stopped, giving the thief a moment to catch his breath before pulling him into a passionate kiss, the snowy haired male moaning softly as he deepened the kiss. Soon, Yami ran his tongue over Bakura's lips, demanding entrance. 'Kura obediently parted his lips, allowing his partner to explore the familar area inside his mouth, relishing every moment.

Soon they were battling for dominance, Bakura having Yami against wall while he sat with his legs wrapped around the Pharaoh's slim waist, which was quickly switched to them being on the ground with Yami on top.

Their little battle continued for a little, finally ending with Yami on top of Bakura when they both surfaced from their kiss for air. Yami took advantage of their position to straddle his partner's stomach and smirk down at him. "That was a cute little fight you put up, my little thief boy...But you should've known you wouldn't win."

"You never know...I could've. There's a first time for everything," Bakura panted in reply before yawning. "You know, Pharaoh...We have to get up early."

Yami pouted, shifting a bit, being sure that he rubbed up against Bakura, to tease him if nothing else. "Don't wanna play?" He asked softly, pouting as cutely as possible before continuing, "Ok then...If you're tired."

The thief shifted a bit, suddenly becoming aware of how tight his pants were now. _'Damnit Pharaoh.'_ Yami noticed this and smirked, leaning down and kissing Bakura's neck a few times before pulling away and rolling off, leaning up against the wall again with his head tilted down slightly.

Bakura growled, becoming frustrated. "You're no fair...Doing that to me and then just...just stopping," he whined, sitting up to watch the Pharaoh, who was now indicating for the thief to join him.

Slowly, 'Kura crawled over, and as soon as he got into arms reach Yami pulled the tomb robber into his lap again, smirking down at him. "Lets help you with your little problem, hm?"

_'I'm not going to get any sleep at all tonight.'_

**--End Shadow Sequence--**

Several hours later, Seto carefully separated himself from Joey, being sure not to wake the blond, and dressed before crawling out of the tent and glancing at the sky. "Sunrise...Those two better not kill me..."

After stretching for a moment and getting the campfire going again he located Royko and Yami's tent, poking his head inside the door. _'Well...At least they're somewhat dressed. Cute positioning though..'_

Both of the boys were sleeping in their boxers, Royko was curled into a slightly feeble looking position with his head and hands resting against Yami's chest peacefully. Yami's arms were wrapped around him protectively, but what Seto found amusing about this position was how childish and cute Royko looked at the moment, like an angel.

It really wasn't everyday that one could catch the white haired boy in such positions, he usually acted like Kaiba according to everyone else, but Seto thought he seemed like a more controlled version of Bakura (of course he didn't know how right he was). _'He's much more carefree then I am...'_

Sighing softly to himself Seto shook his head, he really didn't want to ruin such a 'picture perfect' moment. That's when it hit him, Marik had brought a camera, a digital one at that.

Quickly he slipped back out of the tent and over to the two blond's, Marik had said he was leaving the camera just inside of the door in case someone needed to borrow it. Seto reached his hand in and felt around until he found it, pulling it out and turning it on before slipping inside of Yami and Royko's tent again.

Smirking he positioned himself just inside the door, making sure that he would catch the whole of the positioning before snapping the picture, a decently loud 'beep!' sounding when he did, along with a flash of light. The two boys both shifted slightly and opened their eyes to see Seto smirking at them with the camera in hand.

"This is actually a good picture, don't you think?" he asked, holding it out just far enough so that they could see the picture, but not enough for them to be able to snatch the camera.

Yami just started laughing, not finding anything bad about the picture, he completely agreed with the CEO. It was cute. Royko took a moment to register what he was looking at before he blinked, seeing why Yami had started laughing.

He turned a deep crimson before scrambling to a stand and snatching out at the camera, which the brunette quickly pulled back and ran out of the tent with, laughing evilly. "Get back here Kaiba!" Royko yelled, running out after him, not caring about being in only his boxers.

Seto was standing on the other side of the campsite, tossing the camera up and down in one hand. "What's the matter, Royko? I think it's cute," he stated, smirking. "It was the most profitable way for me to wake you up too."

Royko growled, running straight at the brunette and snatching for the camera again, only to have Seto step to the side and hold it high above his head. "Kaiba you better delete that picture!" he hissed, clenching his fists in frustration.

"What's going on out there? You guys are being so loud.." Marik mumured, emerging from his and Malik's tent and looking at the situation in front of him, the camera in Kaiba's hands, and the look of complete frustration and embarrassment on Royko's face. "What's the picture of?" he asked suddenly, as Yami emerged from the tent next to him, fully dressed and seeming highly amused.

"Kaiba took a picture of me and Royko sleeping...Royko looks so cute in it too," Yami replied, smirking in reply to a glare he got from his lover.

"Oh," Marik stated before grinning and holding his hands up for Seto to toss the camera to him. "Yo, Kaiba! Pass!" he called out, the CEO automatically obliged, tossing the camera in the blonds direction.

Royko spun around, glaring strait at Marik, who waved the camera triumphantly, his grin having shifted to a smirk now. Curiously he looked down at the screen, looking at the picture. "Oh, that is cute."

By this point, everyone had poked their heads out of their respective tents to find out what all the racket was about, and after about a minute of watching everyone understood the situation.

Royko took advantage of Marik's distraction and rushed at him, trying to snatch the camera, only for Marik to catch his hand and step to the side, using his speed to throw him inside the blond's tent. "Heads up, Malik!" Marik called out just before completing this action.

Malik, knowing exactly what was going to happen, stepped to the side just as Royko flew through the door, landing face first on the ground. Afterwards Malik stepped out of the tent, buttoning up his shirt as he went. "Tough luck, Royko."

About a minute later Royko emerged from the tent, just in time to see Marik toss the camera to Mai, who put it into the girls tent, strict off-limit territory to the boys.

Letting out a small defeated sigh, Royko slipped into his own tent and got dressed, running his fingers through his hair carefully to make it seem at least a bit more tame. _'Great way to wake up...Not.'_ Once he finished doing that he slipped back out, only to be tackled to the ground by Marik.

"You're so cute in that picture Royko!" he sniggered as he hugged the stunned boy with snowy hair, who soon shoved him off, growling.

Slowly Royko got back to his feet and dusted himself off, before Mokuba ran up and hugged him. "Royko please don't be mad at my big brother. He was only having fun."

Royko couldn't help but hug the raven haired boy back, sighing. "Alright, squirt. I'm not mad anymore. Now let go, or else no one's going to get fed around here." Mokuba released him, smiling widely before running off to finish getting dressed.

"Not like they'd get fed if it was only you cooking anyway..." Yami muttered, smirking as he started pulling out the bacon, sausage and eggs.

"Shut up. It got him to let go, didn't it?" Royko retorted, cracking a few of the eggs carefully into a pan for Yami while he started the bacon in another, "Besides, it'll get done faster with me helping."

"Yeah, as long as Yami can keep up with everything," Seto stated as he came over and took over the bacon for Yami, having just realized that Royko didn't know how to cook for the life of him. Royko just stuck his tongue out at the CEO in reply.

"Royko, you really shouldn't waste that body part by using it for such childish things," Yami stated, smirking when his partner turned a deep crimson again, Seto just started laughing in his evil way again, "Go make sure the others didn't go back to bed, love. We're almost done here."

Royko frowned, grabbing a stick before going around to all the tents that still had people in them and smacking the sides of them, gaining a few screams from the girl's tent and a loud 'Ow!' from Marik, who had been leaned against the inside of his tent, and had gotten his back nailed with the stick.

"Get your asses out here! Breakfast is ready!" Royko called out, dropping the stick and running behind Yami, who had just finished setting the food down on the one table they had brought.

"Oh, that's cute Royko, hiding behind the Pharaoh," Marik muttered coldly, rubbing his back as he grabbed a plate of food and sat down.

Yami simply wrapped his arms around Royko mockingly. "You're just jealous because he has someone to protect him," he stated, before moving his one hand up to play with the sensitive strands of hair on his partner's head, causing him to giggle. "Now tell me how you can stay mad at someone who can make such a cute noise."

Marik frowned, taking a bite of his sausage thoughtfully. "Damn...You're right. He's just too cute."

By now Royko's face was a deep shade of crimson yet again, and he pulled away from Yami, putting a few pieces of sausage on his plate in addition to a apple after everyone else had gotten themselves some, or in Joey and Honda's case, a pile of the food.

Yami, noticing this, frowned. "Please tell me you're going to eat more then that, love.."

Royko blinked and looked down at his plate, frowning. That was a lot to him, being used to only having a apple or orange for breakfast, and just barely more for his other two meals. "I wasn't planning to..."

Marik looked up from his own plate and, seeing what Yami meant, also frowned. "You need to start eating more, Royko...Really, you're like skin and bones...Besides your build." He stated, sighing

"I don't find anything wrong with my eating habit..." the white haired boy replied, sitting down and taking a bite out of his apple happily.

"Just be happy he didn't just skip over everything you guys made and just take the apple. That's what he'd normally do," Ryou spoke up softly, taking a bite of his own apple. He had grabbed about the same thing Royko had, but he had also taken some of the eggs to make Malik happy.

Yami just sighed and shook his head, sitting down next to Royko. "I guess you're right. So...What are we going to do today?"

"Can we go exploring?" Mokuba looked up from his food excitedly, exchanging glances with Ryou, who also seemed hopeful, and before anyone could protest both Seto and Royko spoke.

"Of course we can," The two blinked and looked at each other before smiling halfheartedly and turning back to their food.

"Well then..I guess its decided. We'll go exploring, and Mokuba and Ryou here will lead," Duke stated, finishing his food off and vanishing back into the boy's tent.

At this point both Ryou and Mokuba finished eating and shared a high five before running into the tent after Duke.

_/You two planned that didn't you?/_

_/Maybe. Why?/_

_/Because I know enough to know that no one would try to argue when me and Kaiba both made up our minds. And I can't help but feel used./_

_/Awh 'Kura we didn't use you. We just suggested something we found fun and let you two do the rest./_

_/Thats the same thing!/_

About a half hour later everyone had finished eating and getting ready, and Ryou and Mokuba started leading the group off into the woods, running every now and then when they thought there was something exciting ahead.

"Hey, do you hear that Mokuba?" Ryou stopped to listen, a grin starting to form on his face.

"Hear what?" Mokuba frowned, and stopped too, starting to concentrate on hearing whatever it was that Ryou was hearing and he wasn't.

The others also listened, the sound of rushing water could be heard a good distance away from where they were. Royko frowned, he didn't like where this was going. Slowly he took off his jacket and threw it over his shoulder to hang on a tree.

"Royko, aren't you going to just carry it?" Yami frowned, watching him do this.

"I'll get it later on the way back or something, don't worry."

"Ok..."

Suddenly Ryou yelled out, "Bet you can't catch me, Mokuba!" starting to run in the direction the sound was coming from, Mokuba automatically racing after him.

Royko, seeing this shot past the others and after them, "Oy! Don't run blindly towards running water! There might be a cliff!" he _really_ didn't like where this was going. _'Damnit this better not go where I think it's going. That'd be just my luck.'_

He was right, they came out of the forest onto a cliff that dropped off to a river about 15 feet below, unfortunately Ryou and Mokuba didn't realize this until Mokuba tackled Ryou around his waist, and both fell forward...right off the cliff.

"Mokuba!" Seto stopped in his tracks, his eyes going wide, the exact same thing Bakura had done in his dream when Meg had fallen.

"Ryou!" Royko, however, knew better and ran strait forwards, cursing under his breath. "Can't even escape the fucking memory in the real world!"

Just as he jumped off, the spirit managed to catch Ryou's arm and pull/push him close enough to the cliff for him to grab the edge while Bakura used this as a leverage to cause himself to fall faster in attempt to catch Mokuba's outstretched hand, Mokuba having let go of Ryou when they fell off the cliff. The Millennium Ring vanished from where it was around Ryou's neck and reappearing around Bakura's as he fell.

Yami and Marik came out of the woods just in time to see this and both, forgetting about the secret they were supposed to be keeping, yelled out at the same time. "Bakura!"

Bakura and Mokuba both heard them yell this, but no attention was paid to it as the spirit caught the young boy's hand and pulled him into a strong hug, somehow managing to position them so that Bakura would hit the water first and act as a impact shield for Mokuba. "Hold your breath, squirt," Bakura muttered as one hand tightened around Mokuba's waist and the other moved to hold his head against the spirit's chest.

Mokuba quickly did as he was told and took a deep breath, closing his eyes just before the two hit the water, being forced apart by the current soon after impact, the Ring pulled from Bakura's neck as well.

**YSF:** Ok, so for those of you who may think 'is the next chapter the end?!' I'll answer your question right now. No, it's not. I promise at least to get to chapter 20 before ending this story. There's plenty more secrets to be held and told.


	12. You Broke his laugh!

Ok...Sorry for the long wait you guys. I've been very distracted from writing...But anyways, if you guys have any ideas for things that you want to happen later in the story, let me know and I might put it in. Yes, I'm running out of ideas. Sadly.

**Bakura:** But she'll get over it. Always does. -grin-

**Angel: **-glares at Bakura-

**Suki:** He's right you know...well, i guess not anymore...considering i comandeered this.

**Marik:** Now onto the story!

**Once again; **

**Seeing as certain symbols don't like to show for me, things are a little complicated;**

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Royko-Bakura/

/Royko-Bakura to Ryou/

-Yugi to Yami-

--Yami to Yugi--

(Malik to Marik)

((Marik to Malik))

(((Author's notes)))

**Malik: **Anyways...Here's the next chapter. Enjoy.

**'You broke his laugh' **

Surfacing Mokuba looked around frantically, doing his best to fight the current and stay above water. "Royko!" he cried out in shear panic, gaining a mouthful of water.

Bakura also surfaced, searching the water frantically for any sign of black hair. Hearing his 'name' being called out, he finally spotted Mokuba being quickly swept away by the current, but he saw the ring being carried away as well.

Cursing under his breath he started after the young Kaiba, swimming as quickly as he could, his appearance shifting to a more recognizable 'Bakura' one, meaning his batwings and quite a few scars on his arms were now showing.

Soon Mokuba was in reach and Bakura quickly snatched out and caught the young boy's shirt in his grasp, his other hand catching onto a rock soon afterwards. "Hold on squirt..I got you," Slowly, he pulled Mokuba onto the rock with him while trying to locate the nearest bank they could get to from there.

"B-bakura..." The raven-haired boy started, only to have a pale finger pressed against his lips.

"Save your breath for when you'll really need it," finally deciding that the closest bank would be the left one, Bakura turned to Mokuba. "Alright, squirt, get on my back and hold on as tightly as you can. I don't want you to be pulled away by the current again this close to the waterfall and I'm not really into the idea of being a human shield against the bottom rocks of that fall."

The raven haired boy nodded and quickly did as he was told, wrapping his legs around Bakura's waist and his arms around Bakura's neck, making sure to not choke him. Bakura waited for him to signal that he was ready before jumping off the rock and back into the water, swimming towards the shore with some difficulty.

Once they reached the bank, Mokuba rolled off the spirit's back, climbing to a stand just as the group appeared from the woods. Bakura slowly climbed to his feet as well, caught the jacket that Yami had tossed to him before quickly wrapping it around the young Kaiba's shoulders and leading him over to Seto.

"Kaiba, never let fear or shock stop you in your tracks when it comes to Mokuba...lest you lose your brother forever," Bakura muttered before turning towards the river again, searching for any signs of his ring against a rock or something, cursing under his breath when he found nothing and that it most likely went over the falls.

The CEO just stood there stunned while everyone else that didn't know beforehand, with the exception of Malik, Serenity, and Mokuba, glared at the spirit.

Tea being the first to speak up, "Bakura how could you say such a thing! You really are colder then ice." Bakura just closed his eyes for a moment before turning around to face them, staring strait into Tea's eyes, letting her know through his gaze that she didn't know what she was talking about.

"I wouldn't expect any of you to understand it. I'm sure Kaiba will get it after he has a chance to think about it. Now, if you'll excuse me...OOF!" Bakura stumbled backwards as someone tackled him around the waist. After catching his balance he looked down to find Malik hugging him. "Uh...Malik?"

"You're here...I can't believe you're back...Bakura I missed you so much, why didn't you tell me?!" Malik cried out, hitting the spirit's chest softly with his fist before burying his face into it again. Bakura's hands hovered over the blond's back for a moment before finally coming to a rest on it, gently returning the hug and pulling away.

"I'm sorry, Malik. I did have reasons...Marik will.."

"What are doing here anyway, dude?!" Honda interrupted, taking a step forward angrily.

"Yea, you don't even belong in this world anymore!" Duke chimed in, also taking a step forward. Bakura blinked at the words, feeling as if his heart had just been stabbed by ten million hot knives, shattering the last of his barriers.

Finally, Yami decided cut in. Crossing over to his partner, he pulled the thief into a strong and protective hug. "That's enough. Don't say such things to Bakura. He has every right to be here as I do."

"What're you doing, Yami? You're supposed to hate this guy," Joey asked, he wasn't mad, wasn't trying to hurt Bakura, he was simply confused.

"I already knew that Royko was Bakura, I've already come to terms with the past. It's about time you all did as well. You have no right to tell Bakura he doesn't belong here."

"No...It's fine Yami...They're right," Bakura muttered, pulling away and turning to walk off, doing his best to sound as emotionless as possible, which wasn't very successful seeing as his voice was starting to break. "Now..If you'll all excuse me, I have a ring to find and then I can leave you all to live out your happy little lives."

Mokuba blinked, frowning at the others before stepping forwards and reaching into the pocket of his vest. "Bakura...I grabbed this for you, in the river. Thought you wouldn't want to lose it."

Bakura blinked, and turned around to see Mokuba holding the Millennium Ring in his outstretched hand for the spirit to take. "My...My ring.." Slowly, he stepped forward and stooped down to take the item, closing his eyes as he slid it over his head. "Thanks, squirt"

Mokuba smiled and nodded, reaching up and tugging lightly on one of Bakura's antennae, but instead of the innocent giggles that they all expected, Bakura only half smiled before tilting his head down again and standing as silent tears started to flow from his eyes.

The raven-haired boy's eyes widened and he frowned. "B-bakura?" The spirit didn't answer, rather, he turned on his heel and ran strait into the woods as fast as possible.

Mokuba blinked, before glaring at Honda and Duke, yelling, "You broke his laugh you heartless idiots!" Then he started to run through the woods after Bakura. Ryou, Malik, and Marik running after the surprisingly fleet Bakura as well, while Yami stayed, looking as stunned as Seto had looked moments before.

Duke scoffed, crossing his arms and looking away. "What's he talking about? That stupid laugh was probably just a fake anyways."

"That's a lie, Devlin. Bakura's laugh wasn't fake. The only difference between Royko and Bakura was a name, appearance, an item and the knowledge you had of his past...nothing else," Yami growled out, glaring strait at the dice master before turning and running off after the others.

"Mokuba's right, you know. How could you do such a thing to someone who just saved my little brother's life, and was willing to give up his most prized possession to do so? Bakura could've chose to go after the ring rather then Mokuba, but he didn't. Good going, idiots. Come on, pup." With that Seto and Joey vanished into the woods as well, soon followed by the girls, leaving Honda and Duke by the river, looking like they had been hit over the head with a 100 ton hammer.

**--Onto Bakura...--**

The spirit of the ring ran through the woods blindly, as quickly as his feet could carry him in his current exhausted state. Which, surprisingly enough, was fairly fast. He was ignoring his hikari's pleas through their mind link since he couldn't close it off for some reason. _'Why am I crying? I don't care if they hate me or not! I can't care, I never have and I never will! I won't let myself!'_

"_**Why not? Yami already promised that he'd protect you from everything, from everyone."**_

_'I can't trust anyone else. I do things alone, for myself. Always have, always will.'_

"_**You didn't always do thing only for yourself. What about Meg? Are you just going to forget her? Abandon her memory?"**_

_'No...I would never do that to Meg!'_

"_**You were planning to, though. You've been trying to forget everything about your past. Even her, and you know it."**_

_'That's not true...Go away...'_

"_**It is true though, isn't it? You just don't want to admit that you failed her in more ways then one after she died." **_

_'Stop it...Go away! Just stop!'_

"**Y**_**ou can't handle things without her help. You're a complete and total mess without her. Always have been, always will be."**_

"I said Go AWAY!" Bakura cried out, tripping over a loose root and falling face first onto ground. Pulling himself to his knees, he slammed his fist into the dirt as it became mixed with his blood and tears. "It's not true...It can't be true. It just can't be."

At this point that Bakura noticed the immense pain that had formed in his arms and took the time to look at them, seeing the the five cuts had reopened while he was running. Cursing under his breath, the thief pulled off his shirt, tearing it into strips and wrapping the wounds in the cloth. He finished just as Mokuba appeared in the clearing, out of breath.

"B-bakura..." Mokuba panted out, doubling over to catching his breath. The spirit blinked and looked up from his wounds, seeing the young boy he quickly reached up and tried to wipe the tears from his eyes, only succeeding in smearing blood over his face.

Realizing this, Bakura looked back down, biting his lip and asking in a cold voice, "What are you doing here, squirt?"

"He was worried...We all were," Marik replied with a equally cold voice as he, Malik, and Ryou emerged from the trees, Ryou running strait over to where his yami was sitting on a rock, slapping him.

"What were you thinking?! Running off like that when you were so weak! You couldn't even close the mind link! I felt you trying...Bakura.." Ryou trailed off, falling onto his knees next to the spirit and wrapping his arms around his yami's waist tightly.

"Ryou...Let go...I..." Bakura started, before he was interrupted, this time by a voice that made his heart stop. _'Oh no...Please don't be here...'_

"Thief?" Yami was now standing next to Marik, staring at his lovers current state with disbelief. "Your wounds..."

"P-pharaoh..." Bakura pulled himself out of Ryou's grasp, standing and staring at the ground while Yami approached him, "I..I'm sorry..I just...they were so.." The Pharaoh cut him off again, pulling him into a gentle yet strong hug, which effectively stunned the tomb robber.

"Shh...it's fine..I'll protect my little thief boy...From everything," Yami whispered softly, sitting down and pulling Bakura down onto his lap with him, stroking his white hair. After a moment Bakura felt his eyes starting to water again, and automatically started trying to stop his tears from falling again by blinking several times. He was losing the battle.

Knowing that by now the others must have all caught up as well, and he wasn't about to let them catch him crying. So, instead, he buried his face into Yami's chest. Unable to hide the fear he was feeling at the moment while holding his tears back, he didn't try.

Yami, as if sensing this, carefully slid off the rock with his partner, so that he was sitting on the ground leaning against it while Bakura cuddled up against him, allowing him to stoke the thief's hair gently. "Everything is going to be just fine...I promise."

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence while everyone watched the two, Seto spoke. "You know...That would make a really cute picture, 'Kura...If not for the blood.." He felt a smile tug at his lips when he saw the spirit of the ring pull his head away from Yami's chest and stick his tongue out, blushing deeply.

"He blushed!" Mokuba cried out, smiling before running and tackling Bakura right out of Yami's lap and onto the ground.

"Ouch, uhm...Squirt? It's not much help to my er...condition when I'm being knocked onto forest floor, bare-chested..."

Mokuba blinked, looking up from where he was squeezing the life out of the spirit, noticing the red cloth around his arms. The young Kaiba's eyes went wide and he rolled off, taking one of the injured arms in his hand and looking at the blood-soaked cloth before realizing that Bakura didn't have a shirt. "I'm sorry, Bakura...I didn't realize.."

"Don't worry about it," the spirit replied softly, sitting up and shaking his hair in attempt to get rid of the twigs and things that now littered its snowy white surface, yet only succeeding in giving himself a spilting headache. Yami chuckled at this and moved over to where Bakura and Mokuba were now sitting.

"Shaking your hair will just make it worse, love," he whispered, reaching up and gently pulling a few twigs from his partner's batwing, stopping for a moment when he heard a small giggle escape the thief's throat despite the attempt to stifle it. "So...We've regained that beautiful laugh, have we my little thief boy?"

Bakura blinked, and felt his cheeks heat up again before he tilted his head down, in attempt to hide the blush. Yami just smirked, and moved around the thief so that he had his legs wrapped around the bare chest, preventing Bakura from pulling away if he tried, before he and Mokuba continued to pull the twigs and things out of his hair again, every now and then they would knock against one of his batwings or just tug on them, causing him to giggle and squirm slightly.

"Another picture perfect moment..." Seto stated, having now found a fallen tree to sit on with Joey as they watched the three. "Bakura sure seems to have a lot of those...It's a shame the camera's back at the camp site."

Bakura, having heard his name, but not caught the whole of the statement, looked up with a slightly confused expression on his face, making him look even more childish. Unfortunately for him, he looked up just in time to be blinded by the flash of the digital camera that Mai had pulled out of her jacket's pocket seconds before. He winced slightly, rubbing his eyes, and smearing the still wet blood over his face even more.

"Well...The blood's a downside, but I still think it looks cute." Mai stated, tossing the camera to Seto, who couldn't help but smirk at Bakura's expression.

"You're right...Maybe someone should go get the first aid kit.." He replied softly, handing the camera to Marik, who went about snapping more pictures of everyone, and several more of a very confused and giggling Bakura.

"No need, we already got it," Duke stated, the two, as Mokuba would put it, idiots coming out of the trees and into the clearing, holding up said kit. This caused everyone to stop what they were doing and turn to look at them.

Then they all looked toward Bakura, who seemed to have buried his face into Yami's chest again, as if afraid they were going to start yelling at him again. _'Wow...I really need to get ahold of myself...A thief king shouldn't be afraid..But I'm not afraid. No...I'm just hiding my face in the Pharaoh's chest so that I don't have to see the looks on their faces...Damnit.'_

Honda, noticing this, frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Gee, Bakura. We're sorry...I guess we just weren't thinking when we said that stuff. You know us, we're knuckle heads."

"Yeah, total idiots," Duke chipped in, handing the first aid kit to Seto, who started over towards the three on the ground. Hearing these words Bakura couldn't help but giggle a bit and mutter something that only seemed audible to Yami, who smiled.

"He said that it's fine and you don't have to insult yourselves just to apologize, he understands completely...I think you just scared him a bit, that's all..Bakura's past is made up of more then what we know...He's more sensitive to things now, if you haven't noticed," Yami stated softly, causing the thief's face to turn a deep crimson and mutter something else, to which Yami just replied by kissing the top of his head gently.

"Ok, I need to look at your wounds Bakura, so you can't stay in that position," Seto stated, waiting for Yami to unwrap his legs from Bakura's waist so that the CEO could help said thief over to the rock and start unwrapping the cloth around his arms. "How the hell did you get all these cuts?"

"I uhm...It's not important.." The thief replied, looking away. Seto merely frowned and started cleaning the wounds on one arm, keeping a tight grip on Bakura, so that he couldn't pull away, and boy did he try at first, hissing at the burning sensation that occured when the brunette put some strange disinfectent on the wounds.

"Stay still. If we don't clean them now they'll get infected, and hurt even worse later." Seto ordered sharply, stopping for a moment when Bakura had tried to yank his hand away, the CEO barely managing to keep his grip, as he and the thief had about the same amount of strength.

The only reply he got was a small whimper of sorts and a strong glare. Bakura certainly wasn't used to anything other then salt and water being put on his wounds, sudden foggy memories springing into his mind of being cared for in Egypt when he would get cuts from thieving at the thought of salt and water, and whatever liquid the brunette was using hurt a lot more then those did, but it seemed to work better as well, not that the spirit cared.

At this point Yami decided to come over and offer his assistance to Seto, standing behind Bakura he carefully wrapped his arms around the thief's waist and pulled him back a bit so that his back was against Yami's chest. This prevented any more struggles from Bakura, who now looked more confused then ever for some reason.

"He doesn't seem to be trying to put his little barrier's up again at the moment..." Marik commented, tilting his head to the side as he watched from the tree he was leaned against.

"I don't think he has the strength to...Either that or he just doesn't care at the moment. I say that we enjoy it while we can, because by tomorrow he's sure to be back to his closed and alert self," Ryou replied softly, smiling.

Malik nodded in agreement from where he was sitting at Marik's feet, still trying to get over the shock of Bakura actually being there.

Suddenly Bakura let out a small yelp of pain and a gold flash could be seen as he ripped his arm away from Seto, who had just finished wrapping said arm in bandages, and tore the Millennium Ring from around his neck, throwing it across the clearing with his newly bandaged arm, his chest now bearing a small burn mark in the ring's outline. "Damn ring! Leave me alone!"

"It's done that to you before, hasn't it, 'Kura?" Ryou asked as he went and retrieved the ring from where it was laying, the leather cord now broken. _'Great...It needs a new cord now.'_

"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah it has," Bakura replied off-handedly, having calmed down again as he slowly fingered the new burn mark before closing his eyes and rubbing them a few times, as if trying to rid himself of something. Once again blood was smeared over his face.

Yami and Seto, being the closest to him, both saw this and exchanged worried glances with each other before the CEO finished wrapping Bakura's arms and stood, brushing some dust of himself.

"Now that that's taken care of, why don't we go get this blood off you, while the sun's still high in the sky, love?" Yami asked softly, pulling Bakura to a stand gently.

"Yami, you're going to drag him off to the lake, aren't you? After I just got done bandaging him. Talk about wasting my time," Seto shook his head, clicking his tongue in mock disappointment.

Yami just smirked and pulled his thief off in the direction of the campsite after getting the ring from Ryou and pocketing it.

**YSF: **bwahahaha foreshadowing at its best!

**Bakura:** she's talking about the memories that sprung up.

**YSF: **yup yup! three more chapters till it comes into play though...

**Bakura:** ...headhand

**Malik: **Review please!


	13. The lake, the cliff again and the flower

Hey, here's the next chapter. I'm pretty sure that it's mmy longest one so far. Over 5000 words. I'm so proud of myself...But, I promised a friend I'd have it up by tonight. (me) So here it is...Although technically it's morning now, and 2am...But that doesn't matter! What matters is that it's up! And proof-read at that! -yawn-

**Bakura:** -snickers- She fell asleep while we were proof-reading it too.

**Seto: **Just gives us more incentive to force her to go to bed. -smirks-

**Yami:** Yes, but we can't even hint at doing that for another few hours. She'd kill us for making her miss a chance to talk to one of her friends. -eyeroll-

**Angel:** -glares at the three- You're plotting. I know you are.

**-Yami, Bakura, and Seto smile innocently-**

**Angel:** -mutters- Evil...plotting behind my back.

**Bakura: **I think I have a right to, due to the torture I have to endure next. -eyetwitch-

**Marik:** Oh stop complaining.

**Bakura: **Says the baka who got away. -death glare-

**Malik:** Onto the story already!

(sorry, i had to keep that blurb because i thought it was amusing)

**Once again; **

**Seeing as certain symbols don't like to show for me, things are a little complicated;**

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Royko-Bakura/

/Royko-Bakura to Ryou/

-Yugi to Yami-

--Yami to Yugi--

(Malik to Marik)

((Marik to Malik))

_(((Author's notes)))_

**The Lake, the Cliff, and the Flower. **

"Thief, stay still or else I'm never going to be able to get this blood off you."

"I can't help it, Pharaoh. You keep tickling me!"

"Well then, we'll just have to try something else, won't we?" Yami smirked, pulling Bakura closer before he sat down in a shallow area of the water, pulling the thief down onto his lap afterwards, causing both of them to be splashed with water. "Now maybe the little thief boy will keep still long enough for me to get this blood off him, hm?"

The two, having stripped themselves of their clothing, had been trying their best not to put themselves into any compromising positions while they bathed. They had actually been doing fairly well up until now.

Since Bakura's chest had been practically coated in blood, which had unfortunately dried before they got to the lake, he had been forced to ask Yami to help him. The only frustrating thing about this was that every time Yami touched a certain part of the thief's body, namely his sides, he would squirm and try to pull away, making it difficult to get the blood off him.

Bakura felt his face heat up as Yami started working on getting the blood off him again. "I still don't get why the wounds opened..." he muttered, doing his very best not to start squirming yet again.

Finally, after several more minutes of this, Bakura was freed of all the blood that had been on him previously, and the two lovebirds were having splashing wars with one another before they both got hit in the head with their swim trunks.

"Make yourselves decent, the girls wanna swim," Marik called from where he was standing on the dock, (they had moved farther out) smirking at them.

"Why can't they go to another part of the lake?" Bakura growled as he and Yami pulled on their shorts and swam over to said dock, where the blond was now sitting.

"Because, they want to take pictures of everyone while we all swim. It's mostly because they don't want to let Yami have you all for himself. They seem to have lost the fear of you they used to have, due to this morning. I don't blame them, you were really cute," he replied teasingly, smirking when Bakura turned a deep crimson and Yami had to hold him back from attacking.

"Bakura!" Mokuba ran strait down the dock and jumped off, tackling Bakura, who was in the water at the end of the dock, in the process. Yami seemed to have escaped this by moving at the very last second, exchanging amused glances with Marik and Seto, who had walked up the dock after his brother.

The two surfaced soon after, Bakura having Mokuba in a headlock. "You're lucky that you remind me of someone I used to know, squirt. And that its someone I happened to get along well with."

Mokuba just laughed and sneakily reached up and back, knocking one of the spirit's batwings, causing him to let go due to a giggle fit. "Whatever you say, 'Kura." Then, he took off swimming, Bakura following close behind in pursuit.

"I guess my thief has a soft spot for your brother, Kaiba." Yami mused, watching as they swam off. By then the rest of the group had arrived, and Joey, Honda and Duke all decided that they were going to race to a small island in the middle of the lake and back again.

"Hey, Marik, Yami! Wanna join us? Rich boy?" Duke called over, from where they were lined up, Serenity and Yugi acting as a refs on the main land while Mai and Ryou swam over to the island to act as a ref there.

"Ah..Sure, why not? Coming Pharaoh?" Marik stood, jumping into the water right next to Yami, splashing not only the Pharaoh, but Kaiba as well, both yelping at the sudden water in their faces.

"Hmm...I suppose I could join," Yami replied, turning to follow Marik, but not before pulling Seto into the water to drag him over as well, "you're joining in this little race, Priest."

"Ack! Yami, I never said I wanted to join!" Seto cried out as he was dragged over to the 'starting line'.

"Yes, but since everyone else is doing it you have to as well," Honda stated in reply, exchanging amused glances with Joey, who was doing his best not to laugh for fear of his lover's reaction.

The CEO muttered something incoherent but lined up with the other boys, Serenity holding a small cloth up as a flag, waiting for Mai and Ryou to raise theirs as well, before Yugi spoke up. "Ok, on your marks...Ready...Set..." He stopped as Mokuba and Bakura came back into view, the spirit looking curiously at the eight of them.

"What's going on here?" Bakura tilted his head to the side curiously, causing everyone's annoyance at him for delaying the race to vanish automatically.

"We're racing, thief. Come join us, it might serve as a game that you can win at against me," Yami smirked, knowing all too well that Bakura couldn't resist a chance to beat him in anything.

"Oh...I think I'll pass." Bakura replied, rubbing the back of his neck before moving out of the way. At this a fairly loud 'Huh?' was heard throughout the group, and they all stared at the spirit, making him frown. "What?"

"You refused a challenge from the Pharaoh...You never do that, 'Kura," Malik stated from his position on the beach next to Tea, where the two were watching everyone rather then playing in the water.

"Well, maybe I don't want to strain my body..." Bakura glanced away, pulling himself up onto the dock.

"You were just chasing Mokie all over the place though." Seto pointed out, crossing his arms.

"It's not that hard to catch the squirt."

"Hey! I was out swimming you for a good 10 minutes!"

Bakura slapped his own forehead, wincing slightly upon contact. "Not helping the situation, kid."

"Oh. Sorry," the young boy grinned sheepishly before moving over to where Malik and Tea were sitting, deciding not to speak up anymore.

Yami exchanged glances with Yugi, who nodded after a moment, then turned back to the others. "All right, well, lets get this race over with."

Everyone nodded and returned to their positions, Yami sparing one last glance at his boyfriend before focusing on the challenge at hand.

"Ready...Set...GO!" Serenity waved their 'flag' quickly as the boys took off, Marik, Yami, and Seto seeming to be fighting for the lead.

"What was the point of inviting them to join again if we already knew we'd lose?" Joey called to Honda and Duke, who just laughed.

Now Yami and Seto were neck and neck, both reaching the shore and not even stopping for a breath. Unfortunately for Marik, he had to dodge out of the two's way before being able to touch and follow, causing him to fall back next to Joey, Honda and Duke right behind him.

"I think those two are a bit too competitive." Marik muttered when they heard Serenity declare Yami the winner, followed by the CEO cursing.

"You're right. They are, but I'm sure if Bakura had joined in you would've done a lot better then you did," Joey replied, laughing at the look Marik got on his face in reply.

"Speaking of Bakura...Where is he?" Honda frowned, glancing around, the tomb robber was no where in sight.

"Yugi?" Yami turned to face his hikari, looking quite confused.

"I'm sorry, Yami. He just vanished, before I even turned around from starting the race," Yugi frowned, bitting his lip.

"Ah...It's fine, aibou. Come on Marik, you check the campsite...I think I'll check that river bank area from this morning.." Yami said softly, Marik nodded in reply before both of them ran off in search of our favorite thief.

**--Speaking of Bakura...Let's check in on him--**

Bakura was sitting on a tree branch that reached out over the cliff, replaying the day's events in his mind while he twirled the ring in his hands. Even though he was only wearing his swim trunks, and it was starting to get cold now, he didn't feel like moving and going back to the campsite. _'Yami, Marik and the others will probably be mad at me..Might as well just stay here and delay it as long as possible.' _Sighing, he closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the river below him while he thought.

_--Flashback--_

"_If the branch snaps then you're dead. You know that, right brother?" Meg sat on the edge of their house's roof, swinging her legs gently while she looked up at her brother, who was climbing a tree that stretched high above the houses. He was trying to get a flower for his sister._

"_Don't worry, Meg. I've climbed tons of trees before, and I've fallen many times out of them. I know how to catch myself before I hit the ground now," Bakura smiled gently as he glanced down at his twin._

"_Ok, but if you do fall and you can't catch yourself, I'll catch you. Okay, brother?"_

_This made the young boy laugh softly, the same laugh that was now only heard when he was tickled or something triggered it. "Alright, Meg. I'll hold you to that, 'kay?" He stated as he reached his hand out to try and grab the flower he was after, it was on a far-out branch, and he just couldn't reach it. _

_Frowning he thought for a minute before turning back and climbing his way onto the branch the flower was on, carefully pulling himself along said branch before he tried to grab the flower again, succeeding this time he gently plucked the blossom from its spot on the branch and turned to start climbing down._

"_Wow, brother. You are a good climber," Meg chirped, closing her eyes for a moment to stifle a yawn, it was early morning. She and Bakura had gotten up to watch the sunrise together on the roof when Bakura spotted the flower and started to climb the tree to get it for her. He had said that it would look pretty in her hair._

"_I told you that you didn't have to worry about me, Meg." Bakura replied happily as he started to step down onto the last branch before the roof. He didn't realize that he hadn't gotten a good foothold on the branch, until his foot slipped off it, causing him to fall, with nothing for him to grab onto to stop himself. He simply closed his eyes and waited for impact._

_Suddenly he felt a pair of hands close around his arm, forcing his body to stop falling with a jolt. "I got you, brother."_

_Bakura opened his eyes, looking up in disbelief at his sister, who was on her stomach, her hands holding tightly onto his wrist while her feet were wrapped around a heavy rock their parents had placed on the roof, to sit on. _

_She simply smiled reassuringly at him before slowly starting to pull him up, using her legs and the rock to do so. "You're heavy, brother...You know that?" She asked when he was laying on the roof next to her, eyes closed._

"_Maybe, but then again maybe you're just weak," Bakura replied softly before sitting up and hugging her, "I lost the flower Meg, I'm sorry."_

_His sister just giggled and pulled away, pointing to the rock behind him. The flower had just landed perfectly on top of it. "No you didn't, brother. It flew itself to safety. See? The blossom knew you'd be ok and wanted to show you that it was ok too," She stated as Bakura stared in disbelief at the flower._

"_Meg...Flowers don't think. You know that," He sighed as he crawled over to the rock, gently picking up the flower before returning to his spot next to Meg and sitting down, placing it in her hair carefully, just behind her left ear. "There...Very pretty."_

"_They do too. And they talk to you if you listen closely. They'll help you if you ask nicely. The plants will," Meg replied defiantly, crossing her arms to give Bakura a 'stern' look._

_He quirked a thin eyebrow, tilting his head to the side to return his sister's gaze. "Oh? Then why didn't the tree help me climb down?"_

"_Because she wanted me to catch you just like I promised. You're always doing something for me, brother. This way I know that I did something for you before I died."_

_Bakura frowned, tilting his head to the side again, sometimes he worried about his sister's sanity. "Meg, what are you talking about? You're not going to die anytime soon. We're not even six yet."_

_She didn't reply for a moment, just sat there staring at the horizon while she thought, before turning her head to smile at him. "You're right, Bakura. I don't know what I was thinking."_

_Bakura nodded, before hugging her and turning to go inside. He didn't make it too far, however, before Meg's hand grabbed his wrist. "Hey, brother?"_

"_Yeah Meg?"_

"_Will you promise me something?"_

"_What?"_

"_When you...When we get older, promise me that you won't ever lose your laugh as it is now...I think it was the perfect gift to you from the Gods."_

_At this, Bakura turned around to look at her, staring at her intently to see if she was joking or not. No one ever spoke of the Gods around their town, and when someone did it made the villagers angry, enough to kill who said it._

_Finding nothing but sincerity in his sister's eyes Bakura shook his head and smiled. "Alright, Meg. I promise. Now, lets get inside before Father finds us out here again...I'm still sore from the last time," His sister smiled and nodded, allowing Bakura to lead her inside silently._

_A few months later, Meg died and Kuru Eruna_ _was destroyed, giving the young boy something, or someone to direct his rage towards._

_--End Flashback--_

Bakura's eyes snapped open, and he quickly made his way down and branch and back onto the cliff's edge, sitting down there to watch the sun set. _'She knew...All along...But she couldn't have...' _He sighed softly, closing his eyes and shaking his head."Oh Meg, I have so many things to ask you...But will never be able to...There's no way that I'll pass the weighing of the heart when I finally do die..I'll never make it into the afterlife."

Suddenly he heard his name called out, faintly, and stood up to search for where the voice was coming from, spotting Yami down on the bank he blinked. "I'm up here, Pharaoh," he called down, making Yami look up and quickly vanish into the woods to get up to him.

Shaking his head he went and sat back down on the edge, staring at his ring slightly confused. _'Such strange memories you show me...Why?'_ He thought quietly to himself as he listened to Yami's footsteps walking up behind him.

Next second he was pulled up and into a strong hug. "Bakura...I know you're distracted by something, but don't go running off like that when you're injured, and not even dressed properly to boot..." Yami whispered, adding in a afterthought, "I'll have to punish you later."

Bakura blushed slightly before he stood up, lifting Yami bridal style before starting off towards the campsite. "We'll just see about that."

"H-hey! Thief...You really shouldn't do this in your condition.." Yami frowned, wrapping his arms around Bakura's neck without thinking.

"I've done such in worse. Stop fussing over me, will you? I'm over 5000 years old, I can take care of myself believe it or not." The tomb robber replied softly as they came into the camp site, where he set Yami down before continuing towards their tent to pull on some clothing.

Yami quickly followed, shaking his head. "I can't help but fuss over my little thief boy, you should know that by now," he muttered, searching through their things. Finding what he was looking for he waited for Bakura to finish dressing before tossing it at him, it was a light jacket. "Put that on."

Looking down at the jacket Bakura scowled before tossing it back and crossing over to his bag. "I have something much more preferable for myself...And you've no idea how much I've wanted to wear it." Smirking he pulled out his black long coat, and held it up to show his partner, who frowned.

"You must really like that thing to still have it after all this time...And to actually have the nerve to take it on the trip," Yami replied, exiting with a sigh as Bakura slipped it on and turned the collar up, giving himself a much needed dark look.

Smiling contently the thief slipped his ring and his deck into one of the pockets before slipping out of the tent after Yami. The jacket gaining him a few frowns from Yugi, Honda and Seto, and a huge grin from Marik.

"You _still_ have that thing? Damn Bakura, you've taken the concept of being attached to a completely new level," Marik chuckled, shaking his head as the thief sat down in between him and Yami.

"Yes, well, no one asked you," Bakura replied heatedly, rolling his eyes in attempt to not smile and, amazingly, he succeeded in this task, which made him smirk. _'I'm getting my self-control back...Good.'_

Yami shook his head, looking down at the plate he had grabbed himself, then glancing at Bakura he frowned. "You haven't eaten a thing since this morning..."

The thief blinked, turning his head to look at Yami before glancing at everyone else, now realizing that they were all eating. "I grabbed a apple before I went up to the cliff..." He muttered, turning his head to look into the fire, he refused to look into the Pharaoh's eyes and ruin a perfectly stated lie.

Feeling everyone staring at him, Bakura stood, walking over to a tree silently and looking up. Spotting a small flower, just barely blossomed, he smiled and, after taking a glance towards Ryou, reached up towards it, planning to take it for him. It was then that he noticed how high up it was and frowned before remembering something Meg had said to him.

"_**They do too. And they talk to you if you listen closely. They'll help you if you ask nicely. The plants will."**_

_'Alright Meg...Lets test that theory...' _Taking a small breath Bakura closed his eyes and started to climb, heading towards the flower that was high in the tree. He hadn't done something like this in so long, that it was slightly unnerving for him.

"Bakura! Don't climb up there, what if you fall?!" Ryou cried out, standing and running towards the tree his yami was now in.

"Don't worry yourself, hikari. I know what I'm doing," Bakura muttered, placing a hand against the trunk to regain his focus on 'listening' to the tree, before starting to climb again, taking his time until he was able to reach up and take the blossom gently in his hand. "Yes..." He whispered softly to himself before starting his way back down.

Ryou just frowned and crossed his arms, watching his yami intently while he waited. He didn't like it when Bakura put himself in danger on purpose like that. Upon seeing the flower, however, he blinked and his frown deepened. "You went through all that for a flower?"

Bakura, after reaching the bottom branch and jumping down, just smiled and walked towards Ryou, carefully placing the flower in his hair, just as he had done to Meg that one morning.

"I knew it..." He muttered after looking at the finished picture. Patting Ryou on his head gently the spirit went and got a apple before returning to his spot by the fire, smiling for reasons unknown to anyone but himself.

Ryou blinked, "Uh..." After a moment of standing there, slightly stunned, he turned around to look confusedly at Bakura, having completely forgotten about the flower in his hair. This just made the thief's smile widen as he watched the group's reaction curiously.

Marik was the first to recover, and speak, "Bakura...He looked feminine enough as it was, did you really have to add to it?"

The tomb robber just shrugged and took a bite from his apple. "I thought it would look nice on him...The soft pink against his white hair..." He trailed off, staring into the fire as if lost in thought.

Ryou stood there for a second before realizing what the two were talking about and blushed, quietly returning to his own seat between Malik and Mokuba, once again forgetting about the flower in his hair.

Malik, with a sudden thought, carefully took the blossom from Ryou's hair and slipped over to Bakura quietly, so that he caught the spirit off guard when he placed the flower in his hair.

"If it looks good on Ryou then it must look wonderful on you, Bakura. Right?" Malik asked softly, quickly moving out of arms reach.

Marik burst out laughing, also jumping well out of Bakura's arms reach. Seto just smirked and quickly took a sip of his drink, while Joey and Honda whispered something to each other, before Honda turned and whispered to Duke while Joey did the same for Seto, causing the CEO to choke on his drink.

After recovering, the brunette crossed over to Marik and Malik, repeating whatever it was they were all whispering about while Joey told Yugi and Mokuba. Duke repeated it to the girls, causing them all to giggle before standing and running into their tent without another word while Seto slipped into his and Joey's tent.

Yami and Yugi locked gazes for a moment before the Pharaoh smirked and slowly pulled Bakura onto his lap, strong arms wrapped around the thief's waist securely to make sure he couldn't get away.

Up until then Bakura had felt his face slowly getting redder and redder while he watched the others carefully, it wasn't until he had been pulled onto Yami's lap that he realized he wasn't going to like what was about to happen, and by the look on his hikari's face, he was feeling the same way.

After another minute or so, Ryou found himself on Marik's lap, with a flower, identical to the one Bakura had, in his hair again. The two boys exchanged uneasy glances before Bakura turned to Yami, scowling. "What're you crazy people up to?"

Yami didn't answer, instead he smirked and captured the thief's lips with his, holding it for a moment before breaking away, leaving Bakura completely stunned for the time being.

Finally, after Marik got Ryou to calm down and stop struggling by threatening to tickle him into submission if he didn't do so, the girls came back out of their tent, Mai carrying a bag over her shoulder.

/Bakura...Can't you break out of Yami's grip?/

/No. Despite what he looks like, the damn Pharaoh is stronger then me...Besides, even if I were stronger he still has ways of keeping me locked like this./

/So there's no hope to get out of whatever's about to happen?/

/Well.../ Bakura was forced to pull out of his conversation with Ryou due to someone pulling on one of his batwing, causing him to giggle and therefore break his concentration. "Don't touch my hair!" He cried out when he discovered that Mai was the culprit.

Mai, just to spite the poor spirit, tugged gently again, causing him to giggle again as well. "I don't think you're in any position to be giving orders, buddy."

"Are you three ready?" Seto asked, slipping out of his tent with his briefcase in hand, which made Bakura feel even more uneasy. The girls all nodded as Mai opened her bag and started pulling out different bits of makeup and setting them on the ground.

The two white haired boy's eyes widened when they saw this, and Bakura automatically jerked against Yami's grip. "No. Yami, let go. No way in hell are you putting that stuff on me," he hissed, letting out a small whine when Yami tightened his grip in response.

"Awh, 'Kura. Please? It'll be fun," Yami pouted, pulling the thief back against his chest before leaning forward and whispering something into Bakura's ear, causing him to turn a deep crimson and stop struggling altogether, watching the ground silently. Smirking, Yami turned to Marik, who looked surprised.

"What did you say to him? I've never seen someone tame him so quickly," Marik tilted his head to the side curiously, knocking Ryou over the head when he struggled slightly, and muttered something about the rod, which made the teen freeze and sit still again.

"Oh, nothing important," Yami replied softly, smirking even more as he stroked Bakura's hair carefully. "So, are we going to get this over with? I don't know how long he'll stay like this..."

Malik took out the digital camera and tossed it to Seto, who had set his laptop up. After setting up a connector of sorts between the two devices, Seto handed the camera to Joey, who prepared to take pictures.

Ryou blinked and frowned. "Why does Kaiba have his laptop set up?"

"Just in case Marik's camera suddenly...vanishes...And so that the camera won't run out of memory space." Seto replied coolly, looking pointedly at Bakura for a second before his gaze returned to the laptop, where everyone else was huddled around to see the pictures. "Alright, we're all set up. You can start now."

Mai and Tea nodded, Mai kneeling in front of Bakura, who cringed slightly when she started to apply the make up to him, making her stop for a minute to tug one of his batwing to make him giggle and relax a bit.

"Look, Bakura. If you don't stay relaxed like that I'm going to end up needing to use more then I plan, or we're going to pull out the Millennium Rod." This made Bakura blink and lean back against Yami again, doing his best to keep controlled as Mai started again, Joey taking pictures every now and then of the process while Serenity stood to the side, holding a light over Bakura, Malik was holding one over Ryou, so that they had light to work by.

Tea, on the other hand, wasn't having any trouble with Ryou for the most part. He amazingly being more controlled about it then Bakura was, and he had almost no motivation for such other then the next option.

"Uh...Why am I being subject to this, again?" Ryou asked as Tea told him to turn his head to the side, which gave him a chance to look at his yami, who looked as if he was about to kill someone, that someone being Mai, which was probably because she was the one stuck putting the makeup on him.

"So we could keep Bakura at a...uhm..more controlled state then he would be in if it was just him," Yami replied, gently tickling his partner's side when Mai finished, causing him to squirm and lose all traces of his previous murderous look. "There...See, it wasn't that bad, was it?"

Bakura merely winced and tilted his face down towards the ground again, trying his best to hide his face. "I can't...fucking believe you people are doing...doing this to me...me!"

"It's not our fault that you two look feminine...It's just too hard to resist when flowers get involved, so technically you brought it upon yourself. Just be glad we didn't get any dresses out," Marik stated, smirking as Tea finished Ryou and he was able to release the restless teen.

Joey took a few more pictures of the finished 'project', then handed the camera back to Seto while Bakura took the chance to bury his face into Yami's chest, letting out a small whine. "You're no fair. None of you. I'm even wearing my best menacing jacket...And you put make up on me..."

"Awh...I never thought I'd hear my little Bakura complain so much in one day," Yami stated in a mock pity tone, combing his fingers through the thief's hair gently. "Come on, we've had our fun and got plenty of pictures...Lets get this stuff off you."

"Yami..." Seto stated, a sudden idea popping up in his head.

"Hn?" Yami looked up at the CEO from his position, frowning slightly.

"We need you to hold Malik still next." Bakura, Malik and Marik all looked up at once, eyes wide.

"What?! No!" Both of the blonds yelled out, scrambling to get into their tent as the two lovers jumped to a stand. Unfortunately, Bakura and Yami were too fast for the two. Bakura tackled Marik to the ground, just as Yami caught Malik by the collar.

"You put me through that. Now it's your turn." Bakura muttered to Marik, a murderous tone in his voice as he stood, pulling the blond to his feet with him.

"Y-yeah but, 'Kura, you look much more feminine then me so the makeup looks nice on you..." Marik replied, his hand working to get the grip Bakura had on his arm to loosen. "You're cutting off the circulation in my arm..."

"You should know that by now those types of comments do nothing to help a situation," the thief replied, turning to drag his best friend back towards the others, but instead he managed to trip over a tree loose root. Falling face first towards the ground with a small yelp-like cry. He didn't, however, hit the ground. Rather, Marik caught him just beforehand.

"Hmm...Would've let you hit the ground but that would've ruined your makeup," the blond smirked, bringing Bakura back to a stand before ducking away to dodge what could've resulted in a bloody fight. "No need to try hitting me. I want to keep all my blood on this trip, not that it would matter to you, you've lost quite a bit already anyway."

Bakura clenched his fist, stepping forward and reaching into his pocket, most likely to grab a card from his deck. "Why you little..."

Yami cut in, grabbing the thief's arm to hold him back. " 'Kura, we don't need a shadow game here. Besides, I doubt any of your monsters would take you seriously when you look like that...Come on, lets just go get this stuff off you." He muttered, dragging the greatly struggling Bakura towards the lake. "Ryou, you too."

The lighter of the two white haired boys blinked, then grabbed a few cloths and ran off after the two.

"Well...I guess that means we're off the hook." Marik muttered, wiping his forehead before vanishing into his tent, Malik following soon after. They would come out again in a few minutes to look at the pictures, or, the blackmail.

**Marik:** -snickers-

**Yami:** -beams and restrains 'Kura from attacking anyone-

**Bakura: **-twitch- Can't I just...

**Yami:** No.

**Bakura:** But...

**Seto:** No.

**Bakura:** But I--

**Everyone but Bakrua:** NO!

**Bakura:** -growls and sulks, glaring at Angel and Suki-

**Angel:** -innocent smile while hiding behind Ryou-

**Suki: **giggles, unfazed

**Ryou:** -.-; Review please.

**Mokuba:** Don't worry about sound enthusiastic Ryou. -eyeroll-

**Ryou:** -conjures up a glare that could rival Bakura's or Seto's-

**Mokuba:** o.o; Eep. -backs away- Review! -runs off-


	14. End of the Trip

**Once again; **

**Seeing as certain symbols don't like to show for me, things are a little complicated;**

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Royko-Bakura/

/Royko-Bakura to Ryou/

-Yugi to Yami-

--Yami to Yugi--

(Malik to Marik)

((Marik to Malik))

_(((Author's notes)))_

**End of the trip**

"Ack! Pharaoh you didn't have to throw me into the water! It's cold!" Bakura cried, climbing to a stand and hugging his arms in attempt to keep warm. _'Well...At least he let me take off my coat first..'_

"You needed to cool down anyway," Yami replied coolly, crossing his arms and smirking at the thief.

"I still don't see the point in putting makeup on me. I had every right to want to kill him," Bakura defended, pouting before turning to splash water onto his face, doing his best to get the makeup off.

"Kura, don't you think you're over reacting just a bit? They were only having some fun..." Ryou stated softly, handing one of the cloths he had grabbed before to his yami, then turned to wash his own face.

"It's a curse enough to look so feminine, I don't need them to make it any worse. Stupid tree must've planned that out...Damn things have a terrible sense of humor...Second time they've..." The thief trailed off, blinking when Yami pulled him into a full stand again, feeling his forehead.

"What're you talking about, Kura? Trees don't think..." The Pharaoh spoke softly, taking the cloth from Bakura's hands and starting to clean his face again. "Why didn't we wait until morning to do this? I'm sure the sun would've helped nicely.."

"Ah...Nothing, nothing...Sorry. And no it wouldn't have. I shouldn't of ever gotten that flower..." Bakura muttered, blushing slightly when Yami stopped and smiled at him, reaching over and taking the flower out of his hair and setting it down in the water, letting it float away.

"I think the flower just made you look even more beautiful then you already do with that hair," Yami replied softly, gently kissing Bakura on the lips before pulling away and turning to help Ryou with washing his face off.

Bakura stood there for a moment, blinking a few times before blushing even more and moving out of the water to retrieve his coat. _'It's freezing out here...Funny how things start to repeat themselves...'_

_--Flashback--_

_A 13 year old Bakura walked down the side of the Nile, counting the coins in a money bag he had swiped from some lady in the market quietly. _'This should be enough for a little while...It's not like I need a lot. Wait, I have to pay Marik back...'

_Suddenly he bumped against a boy about his size, a boy with pointy multi-colored hair, causing both of them to fall to the ground, and Bakura to spill the coins he had been counting. "Ah! I'm sorry, are you ok?" He asked the boy as he scrambled to pick up the coins quickly, he couldn't afford to lose any of them._

"_I'm fine...What were you so distracted by that you didn't watch where you were going?" Came the cool reply as the boy stood up, brushing his clothing off as he watched Bakura scrambling for the coins curiously. "And how'd you get all that money?"_

_Bakura blinked, picking up the last few coins and standing, placing them carefully in his money pouch. "By being creative in order to stay alive," he replied, dusting himself off as well before looking up at the boy he had been talking to. What about this boy made him feel so uneasy? Like he shouldn't be friendly to him..._

"_You mean you stole it? You're a thief then..." The boy frowned, looking the young thief over before smiling. "Why is your hair so long? Do you not cut it? It makes you look like a girl from far off."_

_Scowling Bakura turned away, crossing his arms. "Why do you have so many questions?"_

"_There he is! Oy, Bakura!" A voice called out, causing Bakura to turn his head to see who had dared to call him by his name, only to see a few horses running their way._

"_Damnit. I can't believe that they came all the way out here to find me!" He muttered, glancing at the boy who he realized was wearing quite a lot of gold. "This won't be good." Letting out a small sigh he pulled off his cloak and threw it at the boy. "Put that on and cover your face with the hood. You wear too much gold for your own good."_

"_Eh? But I always wear this..." The boy muttered, doing as he was told. _'I guess I should've thought this out more before I sneaked away from the palace...'

"_Hey, Bakura. Do you have our money?" A taller boy with equally long, blond hair, asked once he and a few others reached where the two were standing. He gave the cloaked figure next to Bakura a small glance before pointing to him quietly, as if to ask who it was._

"_Marik, I didn't really get the chance to finish counting all the coins I got..." Bakura muttered, ignoring the silent question as he pulled out his coin pouch and looked inside it with a small frown._

"_Here, let me take a look. I can count faster then you," The blond stated, jumping off his horse and holding a hand out towards Bakura, who reluctantly handed over the pouch. Marik opened it and silently counted the coins before frowning. "Bakura you're losing your touch. You haven't even half of what you owe. What were you doing today? Lazing around? You usually get much more then this."_

"_I uh...Was taking care of some other matters..." Bakura answered, glancing at the Nile. It was on this day, six years ago that he had lost his sister. He was never able to concentrate on his thieving on this day, and usually stayed by the river._

_However, since he had a debt to pay and had also recently lost all his savings to Marik, who had saved him from trouble several times...He had chosen to do his best getting what he could before turning to his normal routine._

_The blond scoffed, shaking his head. "We all have matters that seem like they would be more important, but what really counts is what will keep you alive, Bakura. I thought I had already taught you that lesson when you first asked for my help. Must I give you a reminder?"_

_The young thief flinched slightly, shifting from one foot to another when he suddenly heard a small cough and the boy next to him moved slightly, pulling out his own pouch and reaching into it. "Excuse me, but how much does he owe you?"_

_Marik blinked, eyeing the cloaked boy before answering. "200 debens."_

"_Here." The boy pulled out some gold coins, and tossed them to the blond. "That should be more then enough."_

"_And may I asked where a street boy came across golden coins such as these?" Marik asked, looking the coins over to make sure that they were real before tossing Bakura's pouch back to him._

"_Payment for helping the Pharaoh's son out of trouble in town," Came the quick reply as the boy put his pouch away._

"_I see...Well Bakura, I have other matters to attend to. Try not to get into too deep of trouble. You're the best, but the messes you get yourself into sometimes..." The blond muttered before getting back onto his horse and leading the others back into town at a gallop._

_Once they were alone again the boy removed the cloak and handed it back to a stunned Bakura. "Thank you, for letting me borrow that...I'd be in a lot of trouble. So, back to what I was saying before about your hair...I like it. It's very, if you'll excuse me for using the term, beautiful." _

"_Eh? Oh...Thanks I guess. Not for the hair comment, but for helping me out back there," Bakura stated, slipping his robe back on before hesitantly holding out a hand towards the boy. "I'm Bakura."_

_The boy nodded, shaking his hand firmly. "My names Atemu. And just call it my way of repaying you for helping out the Crown Prince of Egypt," Atemu smiled before turning to leave._

"_The...the Crown Prince? You're...the Pharaoh's son?" Bakura stood there, slightly shocked. "What were you doing out here?"_

"_The palace gets boring after you live in it your whole life...But I should be getting back. Next time, I'll bring a cloak like yours just in case. Oh, and I promise I won't tell anyone about you being a thief. But when I become Pharaoh, and if you still are one. I'll look forward to catching you," The prince replied, his eyes dancing with excitement._

_This made Bakura laugh lightly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well then, prince. I accept your challenge. When you become the mighty Pharaoh you hope to be, we will meet again, as rivals. But just so you know, by then I'll have become the King of Thieves! Marik says that I'm perfect for the title."_

"_Well then, I'm sure it will be a battle no one will ever forget." With that, Atemu turned on his heel and ran off towards the palace, laughing._

"_Yeah...Me against the Pharaoh. That'll be fun...I could get my revenge then.." Bakura muttered to himself as he turned around to head back to his 'home'. _

_When he did so, however, his robe made a small jingling noise, causing his to stop and search it, finding a pouch smaller then Atemu's, meaning it was about the same size as his own, he pulled it out and opened it to find it filled with debens, a few gold coins mixed into them._

"_Damnit. What am I supposed to tell Marik? That I stole this from the Crown Prince?" Then, he smirked. "That's exactly what I'll tell him.."_

_--End Flashback--_

Bakura rubbed his eyes, yawning as Yami and Ryou finished and walked over to where he was sitting, waiting for them. "Done?"

Ryou nodded, blushing slightly when the thief pointed out that he still had the flower in his hair. "I...Wanted to keep it.." He muttered softly, biting his lip before turning to head back. "It's freezing out here..And the fact that we're soaked probably won't help matters...Let's go."

Bakura blinked, thinking for a bit before smiling and standing, slipping his coat off and wrapping it around his hikari's shoulder's. "There...That should give you a bit more warmth. Just be sure to return it to me, 'kay?"

Ryou stopped for a moment to look up at his yami, before smiling and nodding. "Thanks." Then he turned and started towards the campsite again, leaving Bakura and Yami alone by the lake.

"So..The little thief boy does show compassion for someone other then me. Nice to know," Yami stated as he came up behind Bakura, wrapping his arms around the thief's waist.

"Yeah, well. After everything I've done to him...I think it's only fair that I show some sort of care for him now...To make up for everything.." Came the muttered reply as Bakura looked up at the stars silently. _'It is cold...Why did we take a camping trip so close to winter time? Couldn't it have waited until spring or something...'_

"Bakura, do you really think you have to earn his forgiveness? Ryou loves you and cares about you, he just wants you to be happy." The Pharaoh sighed, slipping around so that he was in front of Bakura, and was about to speak again when Bakura interrupted.

"Pharaoh...Do you remember the first time we met? By the Nile?" The thief whispered softly, pulling Yami closer to him as he stared at the stars.

"I...Yes. I do, why?" Replied a confused Yami.

"Just wondering," Bakura stated simply as he picked Yami up bridal style and headed towards the campsite as well.

"You know, when we met you actually were a little thief boy...Funny how the title still fits you," The pointy haired boy replied softly, smirking when he saw the thief's face turn slightly pink.

When they got there they saw everyone, other then Ryou, crowded around Seto and his laptop, laughing. Knowing full well what they were looking at Bakura stopped to send them a cold glare. "I'd put that away if I were you."

Marik looked up and, seeing that Bakura was carrying Yami, smiled. "Oh you know that you won't stop from your little play time just to deal with us, Kura."

The thief blinked before sending a particularly nasty glare at the blond and vanishing into his tent with Yami, whom he set down once inside.

(Uhm...Marik, love, don't you think you're pushing him a bit too far?) Malik asked silently, leaning against his darker half tiredly. (We don't want people to die on this trip you know.)

((The only one at risk here is me...And possibly his beloved Pharaoh.)) Marik smiled slightly, stroking through Malik's hair. He never did understand how Malik's hair barely even spiked at all when he, the darker of the two, had hair the spiked out everywhere unless he had some control on his appearance set up, like he normally did, but even still, it spiked more then Malik's, he didn't get it.

(What do you mean?)

((Yami's the one who's been spending all his energy trying to keep Bakura under control. I'm just trying to see if Bakura will direct everything negative towards me so that Yami doesn't suffer so much.))

(I see what you mean. But I don't want to lose you, you know.) Malik yawned now, nestling his head into his yami's side. "Its so late Marik...I can barely stay awake," he muttered as they watched the others play with all the pictures from that day.

((I know. I don't plan on being lost.)) Marik chuckled darkly and picked up his light bridal style, heading for their tent. "Then lets go to bed, hm?" He stopped for a moment to glance back at the group. "You all should get some sleep before sunrise. Which, by the way, is not too far off." With that, the two blonds vanished into their tent.

The next morning everyone pitched in to taking down the campsite and loading the stuff into the cars again before starting the drive over, Yami and Bakura having stole Marik's motorcycle to themselves for the ride back, forcing the blonds to take the empty seats in the back of Seto's car.

Driving home seemed to take much less time then driving to their camping site. What any of them would have done to be able to camp out all week, and just skip school. As it was, though, they needed to be at school for their mid-terms this week. It was the last week before Christmas break, and it was also the last week that promised nice weather.

"Mmm...Yami stop that..I have to concentrate on getting us home alive," Bakura muttered softly, yawning as the Pharaoh kissed the back of his neck gently, teasing him.

"You should've let me drive..." Yami whispered lightly as he hugged the thief's waist tightly, nuzzling into his back.

"Just because you chose not to let me sleep till early morning doesn't mean I can't drive a damn bike better then you...You're a big enough hazard without aching everywhere and lacking sleep..." He growled softly in reply, glancing over at where Marik was sitting in Seto's car, eyeing them warily.

He gave a half smile before picking up speed, they had just barely gotten inside the city limits, and Bakura wanted to get off this bike asap. He was sore enough.

"If you're sore and tired then why did we take the bike?" The Pharaoh asked, smirking into the white haired boy's back.

"Because I'm sure Marik and Malik are in worse shape then us...Finally..There's the Game shop." Rather then stopping gently, Bakura turned the bike like one would if they needed to stop quickly or risk crashing, and stopped it like such, leaving a nice tire mark on the road.

"Ugh..You didn't have to stop so roughly!" Yami protested as his partner jumped off the bike and stretched before pulling the Pharaoh off the bike as well, capturing his silky lips in a deep kiss.

"You were teasing me the whole way here! There was so much need to stop roughly!" Bakura retorted once they broke for air, the rest having caught up by now.

"Alright you two, get to work. We're not doing this without you just so you can go make love," Honda called out as he and Duke tossed two fairly heavy bags at the couple, knocking them both down onto the pavement.

Cursing loudly, Bakura pushed the, in his opinion, ridiculously weighted bag off of himself. He then stood and helped an equally enraged Yami out from underneath his own burden. Fixing a glare on the culprits, he growled, "You fuckin' bastards. We would've helped you had you given us the damned chance to!"

"Anger's not the best way to handle situations, hon. Ever heard that?" Mai asked as she walked up behind Bakura.

Turning his fierce gaze on Mai, Bakura ground out, "Yes. I have. The people who told me such never said another word."

"Ooh, tough guy. Well, we'll let you 'hardened men' unload the rest of these bags while we go inside and relax for a bit. All the testosterone in the air is making me light-headed," the blond female mentioned.

Intertwining her arm with those of Serenity and Tea, Mai pulled them towards the shop, laughing sadistically at the thought of the workout the boys would end up getting.

"Bitch..." Bakura muttered, turning back to the car with a small sigh.

"Look what you did, thief. Now we have to work more!" Marik growled out, mockingly. "You and your hormones."

"Marik...I swear if you don't shut up and start grabbing things to take inside then I'll dig out a knife, slit your throat, and watch you drown in your own blood," came the hissed reply as the thief grabbed the two previously thrown bags and shouldered them before moving to grab more.

Frowning, Yami held a hand out in front of his lover to stop him from grabbing more bags. "Bakura, do you really think you should carry so much with the condition your body's in right now?"

The thief scoffed, looking away. "I'm perfectly fine, Yami. Don't worry about me. Just because I have a few scratchs..." None the less, he turned and headed inside to discard the items he had already grabbed before returning to get more.

Yami sighed, shaking his head before continuing his own part in unloading the cars.


	15. Relapse and enter Rei!

woo, i can officially say that we're back to where i took over the story, seeing as i wrote this chapter for angel. So, with the newly mixed in twist, and a new character, we'll continue on in this story! Hopefully with no more writers blocks! Just know, I am not dead. And neither is this story.

**Seto: **She's hyper today...For reasons I, amazingly, don't know.

**Suki:** And you never will! Bwahahaha!

**Seto:** -raised eyebrow- I have ways to find out. I _will_ find out.

**Suki:** I'd like to see you try. -sticks tongue out-

**Bakura:** -before Seto can reply- Can we please move onto the story?

**Joey: **Yeah, I'm sure people didn't come here to read you two arguing.

**Suki:** Hey, you never know...They could be amused by it.

**Yami:** -eyeroll- Keep wishing, pup. (which is actually my nickname...Joey is puppy now.) Moving on.

**As always;**

**Seeing as certain symbols don't like to show for me, things are a little complicated;**

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Royko-Bakura/

/Royko-Bakura to Ryou/

-Yugi to Yami-

--Yami to Yugi--

(Malik to Marik)

((Marik to Malik))

_(((Author's notes)))_

**Disclaimer: **Trust me, I don't own YuGiOh, but i do own Rei

Three days after the camping trip. That was when Bakura finally got fed up with the 'Royko' act at school, and decided it was about time to let the others know exactly who he was.

He wanted people to fear him again.

Ryou had already talked to the principle about it, having insisted that his yami not do anything until the staff knew what was going on at least. The thief hadn't been too happy about waiting till lunch, and had attempted to convince his light otherwise about the staff issue, where was the fun in anything if people knew about it?

Unfortunately, the brat had gone and gotten Yami involved.

Now, when Bakura was going up against only his light, he had nothing to worry about. There were no threats, and not much real physical activities. When he was going against his lover, there was plenty to worry about.

Despite being smaller then him, Yami was normally the winner of their physical fights. Why, you ask? Well, according to Bakura, the Pharaoh cheated. He knew too many things about his lover, that included weaknesses, and he didn't hesitate to use them against the white-haired thief. Whilst, no matter how hard he tried to find something, Bakura couldn't pin one weakness of Yami's that he could use to his own advantage...Or that he was mean cold enough to use.

So, going up against his lover wasn't the best idea he had that day. To make things short, he wasn't going to be looking forward to the next few nights.

Back on track, Bakura was going to be putting on a show at lunch. What would he be doing, you ask? Well...He hadn't gotten that far just yet, but Ryou had promised to help him come up with some scheme other then bringing a few duel monsters to life to run rampant for the bit, which he personally thought would be enough in itself.

So here he was, sitting in the back of the class between Kaiba and Yami, ignoring the teacher and attempting to come up with a plan. This was the last class before lunch, for Ra's sake! He had to come up with _something_ to do by the end of class.

He was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't notice when the teacher called on him, until she was standing right in front of his desk with her arms crossed, scowling down at him.

"Royko, I asked you a question." She sounded rather annoyed, having had to walk all the way to the back of the class to get the attention of one student. Why did she choose to teach Highschool, again? Well, whatever the reason, she was starting to regret it.

That was the last straw. Bakura just _couldn't_ wait any longer! Fuck making some wonderful plan to scare the shit out of people, he wanted people to know. _Now_!

Slowly, he raised his head to glare at the teacher that was unfortunate enough to be the one that had broke the last of his patience, and fixed her with his best 'fuck-with-me-and-die' glares.

"I'm sorry, but there's no 'Royko' here."

"Oh? Then may I ask who exactly it is that I am talking to?" Damn teacher didn't seem fazed, too used to getting that look from the CEO that was sitting next to him.

Silently, he started counting to ten in his mind, slipping a hand into his back pocket to pull out a card from his personal deck. He could feel the glare that Yami was fixing him with, but ignored it as he looked at the card.

Getting fed up with the ten count, he allowed his trademark smirk to cross his face. "You may ask, but that doesn't mean that I'll answer you," he replied, "Instead, I'll let this answer. Souls of the forgotten!"

Immediately, the room was darkened by many purplish-black specters, that reminded Yami strongly of the Kuru Eruna souls. The specters flew around the room, making the students erupt into chaos. One of the students made the mistake of opening the door to get out, and the souls poured into the hallway, now loose in the school building.

Yami risked a look from where he was protecting his head from swooping specters and noticed that the desk next to him was empty. "Bakura..." he growled. Apparently, the former thief had decided to take off with his monsters.

Seto looked around as well, rather annoyed. "Come on Ryou, Yami. By the sounds of it, pandemonium is breaking loose," he said, leaving the room to look for the renegade albino.

--Hikari, in case you haven't noticed, we have a problem.--

-Trust me, I've taken note of it. I'm trying to find him right now.-

--We'll meet you...Somehow--

**--Let's check on some of the others...--**

Malik and Marik had been sitting in the bleachers of the gym during study hall, working on homework with Joey and Duke, when they heard screams erupting from the hallways. Silently, Malik hopped off of the bleachers and opened one of the doors to see a sangan swooping past.

Closing the door quickly, Malik glanced up at his boyfriend. "Hey Marik?"

"…Yeah?" Marik replied, looking up from his work, glad to have a distraction.

"Are there supposed to be duel Monsters in the hall?" Malik asked, with perfect seriousness lining his voice.

"...WHAT?!"

--

It, surprisingly, only took a few minutes for the group to find each other in the chaos that was the school.

"We need to find Bakura!" Yugi stated as a couple souls flew by, some of them swooping at the gang that was, quite stupidly, gathered in the middle of the hall, causing them all to duck, the yamis and Seto cursing. Ryou was about to answer when they heard the thief's evil laugh, it was coming from outside.

"Does that answer your question of where he is?" he wondered as they all ran outside. There, sitting on the overhang of the one entrance, sat Bakura, in all of his evil glory.

"Bakura! Why the hell are you doing this?!" Marik demanded, glaring up at his best friend.

Bakura swung his legs of the edge of the overhang, like a child would. "I felt like it. I was going to give these mortals a fright anyways," he answered with a crazed grin.

Seto sighed in irritation, he was not liking how the so-far pleasant day had turned for the worst. "How many monsters did you set free, Thief?"

Bakura held up his deck. "All of the monsters except for man-eater bug," he replied before laughing again, grinning down at the group. "I didn't think anyone would like it if people were eaten."

Ryou visibly paled, turning to face the others. "T-That means that Dark Necrofear _and_ his Diabound card are somewhere in the school."

Yami glared in no particular direction. "Guys, go defeat Bakura's monsters with your decks. I'll take care of the thief myself," he ordered, quietly.

Everyone hurried off, to get rid of the monsters before they could actually hurt anyone, and Yami turned to glare up at Bakura, who was still grinning down at him.

The albino was using so much of his shadow power, to keep the monsters physical, that his aura was surrounding him with a strong black glow. Yami pushed his own shadow power up threateningly. "Bakura, get down…Nowh" he growled out.

And of course Bakura, being Bakura, ignored Yami. "Your red aura suits you," he said before yelping as he was shoved off of the overhang. Arms caught him, suspending him in midair, and causing the thief to look behind him and see that Dark Magician was holding him about ten feet off of the ground. "Release me, you Ra-damned magician!"

"Mahaado, bring him to me." Bakura struggled as the mage lowered him and then dropped him straight into the Pharaoh's waiting arms. Putting the thief in a standing position, he wrapped his arms around Bakura, pinning his arms to his sides. Concentrating, Yami dragged the taller thief into his shadow prison.

--

Bakura let out another yelp, as he was thrown onto the floor and skidded to a stop against the wall. Staggering back onto his feet, blinded by anger, he leapt at Yami who, in turn, sent out a flair of magic, knocking Bakura down against the wall again. "Sit. Down."

The albino spat at Yami and started to rise again. He was hit with another, more powerful, wave, and pushed back again, this time held down by the force of it. The shadow magic flowed to his wrists and ankles, manifesting into shackles, bolted straight to the floor. The pressure holding him down ceased, but the shackles remained where they were.

Yami appeared in his vision, looking both furious and sad at the same time. "I hate to do this to you, my little thief boy, but I'm not letting you up until you calm down."

Bakura snarled in response and thrashed against his bindings. Yami simply backed up, sittting against the far wall and watched as his lover wore himself down before finally falling asleep...

**--Time Skip! Whoo!--**

Some hours later, Bakura groaned as he woke up, shifting into a warm embrace more, intending to go back to sleep. Realizing that he wasn't bolted down anymore, the thief lifted his head, smiling slightly when he saw that his Yami was holding him, sleeping peacefully. Resting his head on the other's shoulder, Bakura settled down and listened to his lover's steady breathing.

He was about to fall asleep once more, when he felt Yami's arms tighten around him slightly, and heard the pharaoh's sleepy voice say his name hesitantly. Bakura nuzzled his lover's neck gently, in response.

"Feeling better, love?" Yami asked softly, tiredness still lining his voice, indicating the he had woken up from a rather deep sleep.

Bakura nodded, hesitantly. "Are you mad at me?" he asked, biting down on his lower lip.

Yami sighed. "Just a little, because you could have hurt someone. But, I do understand that you had a small relapse and temporarily lost your mind again, due to you stressing out so much..."

"Why did you bolt me to the floor?" Bakura questioned, looking up at the pointy-haired spirit.

That got Yami to laugh lightly. "You kept trying to attack me, I had no choice. Once you fell asleep, you were peaceful for about five minutes, and then you started to have a particularly violent nightmare. I tried just undoing the shackles, but that didn't do anything, so I held you and it seemed to stop immediately..."

The Thief nodded, and then reached up to finger a bruise on his lover's cheek. "Then, where did this come from?" he wondered, aloud.

Yami chuckled again. "You flail in your sleep when you are having a nightmare," he replied before shifting Bakura into a more comfortable position, "Bakura, love, I want you to stay in here for a few days...I'm afraid that you'll have another relapse, and if you do, this place will be able to hold you."

Bakura automatically stiffened, whining. "I hate it in here when I'm alone, you know that," he complained but was quickly shushed by Yami.

The Pharaoh smiled at his pouting thief. "I'm not going to leave you alone, my little thief boy. Mahaado agreed to keep you company and also alert me if something happens. And of course, I'll be here every free chance I get. Including nights, as always." With a small kiss, Yami stood, lifting Bakura into his arms in the process.

Bakura 'eep'ed and threw his arms around the other's neck. "Since when can you lift me?" he demanded, barely concealing his confusion.

Yami chuckled. "I've been working out, with Seto," he replied, setting Bakura down with yet another kiss, "I have to go now, but I'll be back in a few hours. I promise." With a tug on Bakura's batwings, Yami left the room, Mahaado appearing in his place.

**--Back to the outside world--**

Yami opened his eyes and looked around, jumping slightly when he stared suddenly into the lavender eyes, that were just a few inches from his own. "Marik! Don't do that!" he growled out.

Marik just chuckled in reply. "You know, that meltdown Bakura had this morning certainly came at an interesting time."

Yami nodded. "Bakura is fine now. He was awake when I left him," he answered.

"Then why isn't he here as well?"

Yami sighed, turning to see Malik, Yugi, and Ryou coming out of Malik's kitchen. "There's always a possibility that Bakura could go back to being psychotic. He agreed to stay in the Shadow Realm for a few days to regain his control on his mentality," he explained, earning understanding nods from the four.

Sure enough, five days later, Bakura was brought out of his prison by Yami. During those five days, Mahaado had proven to be good company, teaching him riddles and other things to pass the time away. Even Marik came to visit a few times. But of course, Yami's visits were the best for obvious reasons.

Bakura opened his eyes, once they were fully out of the shadow realm. Looking at Yami, he opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by his stomach growling.

Yami burst out laughing. "I take it my little thief boy is hungry?" he asked in Bakura's ear as he mischievously tugged on a batwing.

The thief's eyes widened, as he was thrown into a giggling fit. "P-pharaoh! Quit it!" He gasped between giggles. Yami's only response was to tug on the batwings again.

"Why should I stop when your giggles are oh-so-adorable?" Yami asked in amusement as he tugged again, sending Bakura into more giggles.

"P-Please?!"

Yami smiled and stopped, holding Bakura upright while the spirit of the ring gasped for breath. Once Bakura's breath regulated, he lightly punched Yami in the stomach. "Bastard," he pouted.

"Ah...But you know you love me."

The albino smirked. "Barely," he replied with a little laugh, dodging Yami's cuff to the head. With another laugh, he sped out of the room and down to the kitchen, Yami hot on his heels.

**--Two days later...--**

Bakura walked down the street, on probably the last nice and decently warm day before the snow came, drinking a soda. He had gone to Burger World with Malik and was now headed home through the park at a leisurely pace, admiring the fall colors on the trees and on the ground, in piles of leaves.

Stopping at a tree, Bakura smiled and, rummaging through the leaves, found two perfect red leaves, and two perfect brown leaves, the colors not far from his and Yami's eyes.

"These will be nice," Bakura murmured, tucking the leaves into a book that Ryou had asked him to get from the library. Picking his drink back up, he was about to continue, when he got the feeling of being watched.

"Hello?" Bakura called, glancing around, wishing that he hadn't forgotten the Ring at home. After a minute, the feeling vanished and he continued on his way.

All along his way home, he felt the presence of another watching him, but every time he would turn around, there was no one there, not even when he was a few houses down from his own, and he was alone in the street.

"Bakura?" Yami asked, having seen the albino standing in the street looking around, he had come out to meet his lover.

"Yami, I think I'm going crazy again or something. I keep feeling eyes on me, watching me, but every time I turn around, no one is there..." Bakura said softly, leaning against his lover, feeling the mysterious gaze vanish.

The Pharaoh looked around, as well. "Here, you left this in your room," he said, handing the Millennium Ring to Bakura, who accepted it gratefully and slipped it on.

"What are you doing here anyway?" he asked, kissing Yami gently before leading his boyfriend back into the house.

Yami waited until they were indoors again, before pulling Bakura close. "Yugi wanted to come over, and dragged me along," here, Yami leaned in closer to the other's ear, nipping at his earlobe lightly, "And now that you're home, we don't have to be bored."

Bakura flushed as the other started kissing and nibbling his ear. "Come on, you hormone driven pharaoh, at least wait until we're in my room," he said, getting out of Yami's grip and heading up the stairs, teasing Yami with a sultry walk and glances over his shoulder.

The former pharaoh licked his lips and followed the tomb robber up to Bakura's bedroom, where he pounced on his lover.

Soon, both were so caught up in their teasing and other activities, that neither noticed a pair of emerald green eyes, watching the house from a tree at the edge of the backyard.

--

The next morning, Bakura dressed warmly, since it was slightly cold, and left to join Yami and Seto on their morning run. Both had, oh-so-nicely, pointed out that he was getting a little flabby, especially on the stomach. This had made him sightly annoyed at first, until he had examined his figure in the mirror last night.

Bakura was so caught up in his musings, that he almost didn't notice the gaze watching him again.

Almost.

"Okay, I'm getting very tired of this! Come out and show yourself, damnit!" he called, whirling around, just barely catching a figure ducking behind a wall.

Stalking over to the wall, he smirked and, grabbing the top, vaulted himself over it, catching his stalker off guard and tackling the lithe person to the ground. Bakura had to contend with flailing limbs, and the girl, he could tell by the slight build, trying to bite him.

Finally succeeding in immobilizing the girl, he smirked down at her. "Now, let's see what's under that hood..."

Pulling said hood off, Bakura stared at the female before jumping off of her in shock and anger. "There is _no_ way! No way in _Hell_! This has to be a cruel trick!" The thief protested, backing up, away from the, terribly familiar looking (in that good-but-bad sort of way), female.

The female calmly stood, and brushed off her clothing. "It's no joke, Bakura. I'm actually here," she said gently, watching Bakura slide down the wall to sit on the sidewalk, head in his hands.

"But how is it possible, Rei? When I last saw you, you were being sealed away in the shadow realm, immobilzed in a web of raw shadow magic, 5000 years ago!"

Rei sat next to Bakura, brushing a strand of her black and bright blue hair out of her face. "I have you to thank for that, actually," she replied.

Bakura looked interested. "Oh? And how, exactly, did I manage to accomplish that?" he asked, with an eyebrow raised.

Rei smirked. "You were using immense amounts of shadow powers the other day. The pharaoh had to draw almost all of his energy into keeping you down, so his 5000 year old prison was weakened enough for me to awaken, break free, and escape the shadow realm. I've been tracking you ever since, using my magic to attain knowledge of this time and find you."

"So you're really back…I'm sorry, Rei. It's just...I haven't seen you for so long, and…"

Rei laughed and pressed a finger to his lips. "I understand, silly. Come on, this pavement is cold. I'll accompany you to wherever you were going," she answered, standing and brushing off the seat of her pants.

The albino hesitated for a second, remembering that Yami was waiting for him, but nodded.

The two settled into a leisurely stride, chatting about the good old days of Ancient Egypt, and comparing modern marvels to their ancient ancestors.

Eventually, they came in sight of the game shop, and Bakura could see both Seto and Yami waiting for him. The young CEO looked as if he was going to lose his patience if he had to wait much longer.

As they drew closer, Bakura, all of a sudden, noticed Rei go still and then, with a low growl, lunge towards Yami, pulling a dagger out of her coat pocket.

"Rei! Stop!" Bakura yelled, sprinting after her. Yami heard the shout and turned, eyes widening in surprise and then recognition as Rei dashed towards him at an incredible speed. Neither of the three males could catch Rei before she barreled into the Pharaoh, knocking him to the ground.

Yami, caught slightly off guard, fell backwards, and struggled to keep Rei's dagger from piercing his neck. Bakura reached the two fighting on the ground, and grabbed Rei's dagger hand as well, attempting to keep it from his lover.

"Rei! Ra-damnit! Stop it!" he growled out, finally yanking Rei off of Yami, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her back and away from the other.

"Let me go, Bakura!" Rei growled, twisting and thrashing in the male's strong grip.

"What the hell is going on?!" Seto demanded, helping Yami up as Bakura continued to subdue Rei.

Finally Rei quieted down, settling for glaring at Yami and growling at him in a low tone while Bakura still held her around the waist.

"These two have a long history," Bakura finally spoke, sighing, "When I was finally captured by Yami, one of his, many,punishments was to lock Rei tightly away in the shadow realm, while I was forced to watch. That relapse the other day caused Yami to take energy away from her prison in order to subdue me."

Rei suddenly cut in, still glaring daggers at Yami. "He didn't have enough energy towards the cocoon that imprisoned me, to keep me at bay. I wasn't going to wait around for him to return the energy, so I broke free. And now, I'm going to give him what he deserves," she growled, once again trying to break free of Bakura's grip.

The latter held tight, while Seto looked slightly confused. "Why would Yami lock her away in the first place?" he asked.

Bakura sighed, sadly. "Because...Rei is my baby sister, and seeing her punished because of me, and my actions was...the worst that Yami could ever have done to hurt me," he answered softly, turning his gaze away.

**Suki:** there's the chapter. Once again, I'm so sorry for it taking so long and such! The next chapter will be up soon...I hope. Either way, it'll be up sooner then this one! I hope...Awh, just don't murder me if it takes awhile again, please.

**Marik:** ...Can we go now?

**Seto:** Yes. We may.

**Bakura:** Review! Or I'll...uhm...Set my monsters on you! Yes!

**Yami: **He won't, but review anyway.

**Bakura:** No, I will. I so will. You're not winning this one, Pharaoh!

**Yami:** I already have.


	16. A bargain and Complications arise

Hiya! I'm so sorry it took so long for me to update! It's harder than it looks to pick up the reigns and write your first true chapter for an inherited story. So, with the newly mixed in twist, and a new character, we'll continue on in this story! Hopefully with no more writers blocks! Just know, I am not dead. And neither is this story.

**As always;**

**Seeing as certain symbols don't like to show for me, things are a little complicated;**

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Bakura/

/Royko-Bakura to Ryou/

-Yugi to Yami-

--Yami to Yugi--

(Malik to Marik)

((Marik to Malik))

_(((Author's notes)))_

**Disclaimer: **Trust me, I don't own YuGiOh. I do, however own Rei.

**Recap: **Rei suddenly cut in, still glaring daggers at Yami. "He didn't have enough energy towards the cocoon that imprisoned me, to keep me at bay. I wasn't going to wait around for him to return the energy, so I broke free. And now, I'm going to give him what he deserves," she growled, once again trying to break free of Bakura's grip.

The latter held tight, while Seto looked slightly confused. "Why would Yami lock her away in the first place?" he asked.

Bakura sighed, sadly. "Because...Rei is my sister, and seeing her punished because of me, and my actions was...The worst that Yami could ever have done to hurt me," he answered softly, turning his gaze away.

Now, on to the story!

Bakura entered his and Ryou's house, carrying Rei over his shoulder, the girl dangling down his back with her arms crossed. He Yami and Seto had agreed to forego the workout today in favor of Bakura calming Rei down and taking her home. As Bakura had turned to leave, Rei had tried to lunge at Yami again, resulting in Bakura slinging her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.

Rei looked around as Bakura shut the door and headed into the living room. "Nice place," she commented as Bakura set her down.

Bakura straightened back up and stretched his back. Rei had thrashed for a couple minutes on the way home, so he knew he'd have fist-sized bruises tomorrow. "Sit," Bakura told her.

"I'm not a dog."

"Rei, please," Bakura sighed, running a hand through his hair, "we need to talk." Rei scowled but sat on the couch, tossing her head to flick her bangs out of her eyes. Bakura joined her and studied her for a minute before speaking.

"Rei, why must you be so vengeful? It's in the past, times have changed. The pharaoh…"

"…is a pompous and aloof bastard. I don't care what you say, Bakura, I want him to suffer."

Bakura growled in reply. "Sister, I will send you back to Egypt or the shadow realm if I need to…" he threatened.

Rei's eye's narrowed. "What am I missing? Why do you care if I kill the pharaoh or not?" she demanded.

Bakura hesitated. He knew Rei wouldn't like this answer. Seeing her vivid green eyes piercing him with their gaze, he sighed and rested his head in his hands. "The pharaoh…Yami and I are a couple…"

"WHAT?!" came the outraged reply, causing Bakura to cringe. "How in Ra's name could you fall in…" here Rei paused and visibly twitched, "_love_ with the _Pharaoh_! What about your revenge?!"

"…Rei, please, like I said, it's in the past…I decided that my revenge has been going on for far too long. I'm tired of striving for justice that'll never happen. All I want now is to be able to have a life…the life that I couldn't have in Egypt. Is that too much to ask?"

Rei studied her brother. It was rare that he was so sentimental, and it threw her for a loop. "What do you want of me Bakura?" she asked finally.

Bakura smiled weakly. "Do me a favor and not kill the Pharaoh? In return, I'll speak with him and convince him to not send you back to the Shadow Realm…fair enough?" he inquired.

"I'm not going to be nice to him."

Bakura's smile strengthened. "I don't expect you to. You two can argue to your heart's content, but no casualties." Seeing Rei nod in agreement, he smiled more and pulled her onto his lap, holding her close.

Rei immediately tensed but then relaxed into the embrace. She had not experienced touch for five thousand years, so her nerves were a little oversensitive. Snuggling to Bakura, she relaxed for a minute in the familiar safety that she felt when with Bakura before asking curiously, "So who is that person who looked like the priest?"

Bakura nuzzled Rei. "That's Seto Kaiba. He is the priest's reincarnation."

"…is he as much of a pompous ass as the Priest was?"

Bakura let loose a snort of amusement. "At times," he replied, standing with Rei in his arms. "Come, let's introduce you to Ryou."

…

Bakura paced the living room nervously. Ryou had convinced him to invite the group over to properly meet Rei. Rei had only been with him and Ryou for a few days, and only yesterday Bakura had convinced Yami to not send her back to the Shadow Realm. It was pretty safe to say that Yami hadn't appreciated almost being killed.

Hearing the doorbell ring, Bakura retreated into Ryou's father's office where Rei was sitting at the desk, spinning the globe, her green eyes entranced on the spinning orb. "Bakura…why is Egypt purple on this…glohbeh?" Rei inquired, her tongue trying to sound out 'globe' and messing up only a little…better than antibiotics, which was pronounced anti-bee-oh-ticks.

Bakura chuckled and shook his head. Now he realized why Ryou loved to give Rei words that didn't have an ancient Egyptian translation. "It's just to show the boundaries Rei, you know that Egypt isn't really purple…" he explained.

Rei made a small 'oh' sound and spun the globe again. "I thought the maker was just colorblind."

Bakura chuckled again. "Ready to go meet the others?" he wondered.

Rei nodded and stood after giving the globe a final spin. As she passed Bakura, Bakura suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm. Rei turned in surprise as Bakura held her still and took her daggers that she had hidden on her person.

"Hey!" Rei protested as Bakura set the daggers on the desk.

"Trust me, you won't need them," Bakura assured, gently pushing Rei through the door and down the hall. Rei grumbled but allowed him to steer her to the living room where everyone was gathered, all chatting amiably. Bakura frowned slightly as he noted that Malik and Marik weren't there yet.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet my baby sister. Guys, meet Rei. Rei, meet Seto, Mokuba, Honda, Duke, Joey, Serenity, Mai, Tea, and Yugi. You obviously know Ryou and Yami," he introduced, placing his hands on Rei's shoulders.

Rei studied everyone and merely nodded mutely to their greetings. Sitting next to Bakura, she immediately curled to his side, much to Yami's dismay and ire. He had been hoping Bakura would sit next to him so that they could cuddle of sorts. While he did understand that Rei and Bakura needed each other, he had been pretty much ignored for the past few days. He was definitely going to talk to Bakura about this later, if he could get him alone to talk.

"I have a question," Duke started, "I thought you said that you had a twin sister, Bakura. However, Rei looks nothing like you, and she's obviously younger than you…" here Duke trailed off, realizing that he might be getting into a touchy subject.

Bakura stroked Rei's hair gently as he thought about that. "I did. When I lost her and became an orphan, I became a servant/slave for this one man. I had only been there about a year and a half before he brought home Rei and entrusted her in my care. Over time, we became as close as siblings. We adopted each other in a sense," Bakura explained, rubbing Rei's back when she stiffened at the mention of said memories, "They weren't pleasant years, so me and I'm sure Rei would appreciate it if those memories weren't brought up intentionally."

Everyone nodded and returned to chatting amiably, Yugi and Ryou talking to Rei. Soon everyone heard the telltale sound of Marik's motorcycle pulling into the driveway. Rei went to get up to see what that sound was, but Bakura pulled her back down. "Sit down Rei, it's just two more friends," Bakura stated, a smile growing. He had a feeling that she'd enjoy this. "Ryou, get the door?"

Ryou nodded and left the room, returning a minute later with Malik and Marik behind him. Rei sat in stunned surprise before jumping up and tackling Marik with a hug. "Mariku!" she exclaimed happily, nuzzling him.

Marik blinked in surprise, having fallen onto his butt. "Rei?! How in Ra's name…" Marik trailed off and wrapped his arms tightly around Rei. "I missed you," he stated.

Bakura smiled and joined Yami, wrapping an arm around the pharaoh's waist. Yami relaxed a little and he kissed Bakura on the cheek. Bakura turned and met the kiss, causing Yami to relax further with a small sigh. Making sure Rei was content and distracted by chatting happily with Marik and Malik, who Rei seemed to take an immediate liking to, Bakura nuzzled Yami and murmured softly in his ear, "I'm sorry I haven't been giving you the attention you deserve. It's just that Rei is so new to this time I was scared to leave her alone, lest something happened that she couldn't handle. With Marik here, I can start to leave her with others and not worry…"

"Liar, you'll still worry, just not as much. However, I thank you for the apology and explanation," Yami replied just as quietly, "And tonight, you can make it up to me. If we can't claim your room, meet me in your shadow prison, fair enough?"

Bakura nodded and looked up as Ryou came back into the room. "The pizza is here, we should eat in here so we can all fit," Ryou suggested, getting agreeing nods in return. Rei shifted and looked up at Malik and Marik from her spot on Marik's lap.

"Pizza?" she inquired, "What's that?"

Malik smiled. "It's a type of food. A bread crust is formed in a circle and then covered in tomato sauce, cheese, and whatever toppings you want," he explained, getting up to retrieve pizza for Rei, Marik, and himself.

"Malik, don't give her a big slice, Rei…can't eat much in the way of quantity," Bakura piped up.

"Just like you and Ryou," Seto snorted, "Maybe Rei should stay with the Ishtar's…she'd be able to eat right then."

Bakura laughed as Rei stuck her tongue out at Seto as Malik vanished into the kitchen for a minute, coming back with two plates of pizza.

Marik cuddled Rei and picked up his slice, offering the corner to bite. "She can share mine," he offered. At Bakura's nod of agreement, Rei took a hesitant bite of the pizza, eyes widening at the flavor.

Malik laughed at Rei's look as he tore into his own slice. "In this time a lot of things tend to have flavors that stand out compared to Ancient Egypt when flavors were more subtle.

Rei looked over at Malik as she took another bite from Marik's slice. "You don't say," she replied sarcastically, "it's good though, makes me curious on how other stuff of this time tastes like."

Marik grinned at that. "We'll take you around town tomorrow. We'll go anywhere you want. Sound good?" His smile grew as Rei nodded and took a third, slightly bigger bite of his pizza.

…

"I have a question for you Bakura," Yami murmured, cuddling to the former thief. Rei had fallen asleep in Marik's embrace, allowing Bakura and Yami to claim the bedroom when everyone had been ready to go to bed.

Bakura nuzzled Yami, breathing in the scent of the pharaoh's hair. "Go on, I might have an answer," he replied.

"It's probably none of my business, but what's wrong with Rei? You said earlier that Rei couldn't eat in the way of quantity, and I noticed that Rei only ate about half of a slice of pizza and a bite of dessert before claiming that she was full," Yami questioned softly.

Bakura sighed slightly. "No, it's a good question and I'm glad you asked it now rather than earlier. Rei would have had a hissy fit about you asking and the group learning about such a touchy subject."

"So that means you'll answer?"

"Yes," Bakura chuckled, "I'll answer your question. You know that we were slaves together. Well, our master fed us alright, enough to keep us at a decent weight and have enough strength to do our tasks. Since I wasn't a true slave, me and our master had made an agreement that once I turned eighteen I would be set free. A few months after I was freed, he sold Rei for some reason. Another slave owner bought her before I could rescue her from the slave market, she sold fast because of her unusual looks, and I lost track of her. When I finally located her after another few months, she was a lot thinner than she is now and being treated very poorly…"

Yami waited for Bakura to continue. After a few minutes, Yami had to yank him out of his thoughts. "Bakura…what happened then?"

Bakura's eyes slid closed. "I waited till nightfall, killed her master in his sleep, and got Rei out of there and took her to my home. I learned from Rei that the bastard starved her because he didn't like her attitude. I had to nurse her back to health, but the damage is done. Rei is permanently anorexic due to her mistreatment and when I had got her home she couldn't stomach anything solid. She got ill and almost died…" Bakura finished, trailing off.

Yami leaned up and gently kissed Bakura, feeling the tiny tremors that the memory brought. "But you saved her," he soothed, "your sister is safe and sound."

Bakura smiled slightly. "Marik saved her actually. He forced me to feed her even when Rei fought and struggled. He got her appetite and weight back up. I think that's why Rei is so fond of him. He renewed her lease on life and has been an anchor in said life ever since."

"Makes sense," Yami murmured before snuggling closer to Bakura with a yawn.

"…I thought I was supposed to make up ignoring you tonight…"

Yami thought about it and whined. "m'sleepy now. You can make it up to me tomorrow," he reasoned, making his voice sound childish. For his efforts, he got a laugh and a kiss on the forehead as Bakura held him closer. Not too much later, the couple was fast asleep.

The next day was a nice and unusually warm day. The 'tour group' were all secretly glad, considering one of them was not used to colder climates yet. Malik and Marik led the group to the park, Rei following close behind, looking around, while Bakura and Yami strolled behind Rei. Yami had asked Rei if he could come along that morning as a sort of peace offering and after a bit of thought, Rei had reluctantly agreed, seeing as it made Bakura happy.

Rei was busy playing with her shadow powers, copying knowledge from strangers passing by and reading auras as the five Egyptians settled on the grass in the park. As her shadow magic flicked from person to person, reaching farther out, she frowned and retracted her magic quickly as it brushed the aura of someone familiar.

"Rei? What's wrong?" Yami asked softly, having seen the frown.

"I…I was reading auras and I felt one that seemed _very_ familiar…one I haven't sensed since Egypt…" she murmured, feeling very confused, "but…that shouldn't be possible…"

Bakura frowned and pulled Rei to him. "Who was it? Maybe it's just a reincarnate," He asked softly.

Rei located the aura again, barely brushing it before pulling back and clinging to Bakura's trench coat tightly and suddenly. "I-It feels like the High priest…"

Marik frowned as Bakura shushed Rei and set to work calming her down. "You could just be sensing Seto," he offered.

Rei shook her head quickly. "No! I know what I sensed! Seto's aura feels different…this one feels similar to Yami's…as if there's a relation," she argued.

Just as Marik opened his mouth to argue that it couldn't be possible, a voice spoke up behind them, causing him Bakura and Yami to jump and Rei to bury her face in 

Bakura's chest, trembling slightly. "I'd listen to the little thiefling…she's telling the truth for once."

The three spirits turned and their mouths fell open in shock. The person stood tall and straight, arms crossed over his chest. He looked a lot like Seto, but his eyes were several shades darker and his hair and bangs were a little longer and not as precisely cut. The figure's lips curled up into a smirk. "It's been a while…Tomb robber, Cousins."

"Seth?!"

A/N: I'm evil. I love leaving it at such cliffies! Hee. Review please!


	17. Things just got a lot more complicated

I feel bad that I neglected this story for over a year. The chapter just refused to progress for me. I hope my readers can forgive me…and that I didn't lose them…

**As always;**

**Seeing as certain symbols don't like to show for me, things are a little complicated;**

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Bakura/

//Royko-Bakura to Ryou//

-Yugi to Yami-

--Yami to Yugi--

(Malik to Marik)

((Marik to Malik))

_(((Author's notes)))_

**Disclaimer: **Trust me, I don't own YuGiOh. I do, however own Rei.

**Recap: **Just as Marik opened his mouth to argue that it couldn't be possible, a voice spoke up behind them, causing him Bakura and Yami to jump and Rei to bury her face in Bakura's chest, trembling slightly. "I'd listen to the little thiefling…she's telling the truth for once."

The three spirits turned and their mouths fell open in shock. The person stood tall and straight, arms crossed over his chest. He looked a lot like Seto, but his eyes were several shades darker and his hair and bangs were a little longer and not as precisely cut. The figure's lips curled up into a smirk. "It's been a while…Tomb robber, Cousins."

"Seth?!"

**Now for the new stuff:**

"That's my name," he replied cooly, still smirking.

It was Yami who found his voice first. "Seth…what are you doing here? How are you even alive?" he wondered.

Seth shrugged. "I have my reasons for being here, and as for how I'm here…well, the gods granted me a body."

"Too restless in the afterlife?" Bakura sneered, still soothing Rei, who had tensed up further at Seth's voice.

"No, I do have a purpose for being put back on Earth, but I'm permitted to take all of the time that I need and/or want," he answered.

"So once you're done you get to go back?" inquired Marik.

Seth was actually patient with the questions for once in his life. It was only natural that so many would surface…after all he did come back from the dead and was truly alive unlike the spirits of the items. He couldn't go into spirit-mode like they could, and he had a heartbeat and breathed so it was safe to say that he was alive. "I don't know truthfully," he answered, looking thoughtful.

"I could always put you back," Rei snapped, "It'd serve you right."

Seth looked over at Rei. "Thiefling, you couldn't hurt me if you tried," came the answering scoff.

Bakura suddenly found himself struggling to keep Rei from rising. "Rei, stop it! Behave yourself!" he growled.

"No! I have to prove that I'm not a 'thiefling.' I have to prove that I'm stronger than that!"

Bakura growled softly. "Even if that's how he caught you the first time?" he demanded softly in her ear, satisfied when Rei tensed and went still.

Yami frowned at the exchange. "Seth, cousin, if you're going to stay with us, you have to be nice to Rei."

That stopped Seth in his tracks, the former high priest's arms falling from their crossed position in shock. "What?!" he demanded, "I don't want to be _nice_ to the likes of _her_!"

"Tough shit Seth," Marik growled.

Seth scowled at Marik. "Shut up _prince_," came the answering snarl.

Yami sighed in annoyance. "Children play nice. Seth, don't call Marik that, you know he hates it, and Marik don't rile him," he scolded both before turning his attention back to Seth. "Seth, you will behave yourself and leave Rei alone if you wish to stay here."

Rei blinked and looked at Bakura while Yami was busy placating his cousins. "Kura," she said softly, quiet enough for only Bakura to hear her, "Why is Yami standing up for me?"

Bakura looked at Rei and smiled softly, hugging her gently. "Yami came to the decision this morning to try to make things right with you. He was planning on formally apologizing today, but that might have to wait since Seth is here now," he explained very quietly so Seth wouldn't overhear.

Seth grumbled and crossed his arms again, glaring down at his youngest cousin, blinking when it was evenly returned. "…fine, I'll 'behave,'" he grumbled.

"Thank you Seth, I don't need a headache from you, not today."

"Yes pharaoh," came the sarcastic reply.

Marik chuckled, slinging an arm around Seth just to annoy him. "Well this is unexpected, but a family reunion is nice….hey Yami, we should introduce Seth to his hikari."

Seth blinked at Marik, too curious about the word 'hikari' to tell him not to touch him. "Hi…kari? What's that?"

"A hikari is your reincarnation…your lighter half of your soul," Bakura explained, standing and helping Rei up.

"…and that is scary if Kaiba is considered the light…" Rei mused, causing Bakura to snort, trying to hold back a laugh.

Yami smiled. "Seto isn't dark," he scolded the siblings lightly, "he's actually just like you, Rei, he had a rough life that made him calloused."

"I'm not calloused," Rei protested with a frown.

"I think he meant the rough life part," Marik interjected before Yami could make up a comeback. Rei blinked at Marik before she nodded in acceptance of that before relaxing, leaning against Bakura lightly.

Bakura smiled at that action and wrapped an arm around her before nuzzling her gently, smiling more as Rei relaxed further. It was definitely clear to him that if Rei and Seth were in the same room, there would have to be a chaperone at all times. He didn't feel like compromising with Rei to not harm him, nor did he particularly want to. Seth had been a thorn in both their sides.

"Yamiiiiii," Marik was wheedling, "Can we please show him to Kaiba?"

Yami sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose before looking at Marik. "If you stop whining like a little child, then sure. We'll go to Kaiba Corp," he replied, rolling his eyes as the two blondes cheered.

With that the troop started off to Kaiba Corp, Seth walking next to Yami and Bakura next to Rei. Rei held Bakura's hand so she could look around at the city without risk of getting separated from her brother. Trying to read the Japanese, Rei frowned at failing and sent a small thread of shadow energy towards Bakura curiously. Much to her surprise, Bakura let her into his mind without so much as batting an eye and instead immediately offered up his knowledge for her to copy and use.

All too soon the impressive skyscraper that Seto boasted his company with loomed up before them. Before they came within sight of the building, Yami conjured an illusion around Seth to make him look like Ryou to the guards so he wouldn't be stopped due to looking like Seto.

That made getting in a breeze, and all too soon they were knocking on Seto's door.

"What do you dweebs want?" came the annoyed call through the door.

"Come now Kaiba, we have something to show you," Yami called back. There was a pause before Seto opened the door and scowled at them.

"It better not be any more of your egyptian hocus pocus. I've had enough of that to last a lifetime," he groused, letting them into the office before leaning against the closed door once everyone was in. Of course he knew they were going to show him something along those lines. There was no other reason he'd have all the egyptians in his office at the same time.

Yami flashed him a disarming smile. "Well, Kaiba," he replied, the smile becoming a smirk, "we decided to make you a complete believer in our 'hocus pocus.' Granted this took us by complete surprise as well, but allow us to introduce you to your yami. Seto, meet Seth." With that he dropped the illusion on Seth, revealing his true identity to Seto.

"Hello Seto," Seth greeted smugly at the shocked look on Seth's face.

Seto tried a few times to say something, shook his head before focusing on Seth and Yami. "Tell me I'm dreaming…"

"It's no joke or dream, Kaiba," Rei murmured softly and unhappily, "he came to this time somehow and won't leave till his assigned task is done."

Seth looked at Rei, silently thinking before a cruel smirk curled across his lips. "It appears the thiefling doesn't enjoy my presence," he sneered, satisfied when Rei flinched.

While Yami scowled at his cousin, Bakura wrapped his arms comfortingly and protectively around Rei, stroking her hair before glaring at Seth. "I don't know what the hell you did to affect Rei so much in the past, but mark my words, priest. You so much as harm a hair on her head and I will kill you before you could raise a hand to stop me," he spat.

"Mind not killing each other in my office?" Seto wondered idly as the tension between Seth and Bakura grew thick enough to become uncomfortable. Their power was making his skin crawl. "Look, Yami. If you need to, Seth may stay at the mansion…it'd be the best place seeing as I have plenty of room," he offered. What he didn't add, was that it would most likely keep Seth away from the thief siblings.

Yami sighed and looked at Seto. He knew what Seto wasn't saying, he knew his rival well enough. "It'd be appreciated," he replied before reaching up and snapping his fingers in Seth's face to break the glaring contest between him and Bakura.

"Damn it cousin! Don't do that!" Seth growled, glaring at Yami before blinking as his glare was returned evenly and if anything, more menacingly.

"You're continuing to cause trouble. You said you'd behave," Yami told him, "Your hikari has offered to give you a place to stay. I think it will do you good."

"You can't be serious…"

"He's plenty serious," Seto interjected, "I think you need some time to adjust to this time. And I believe I'm the one best suited to help you."

Seth studied Seto before nodding. "Very well," he replied after some thought. He needed time to decide what to do about the siblings. His reason for returning to life involved them. And by the looks of it, his task was going to be harder to do than he first thought.

He knew that Rei was quite resilient…after all, while she was his captive she didn't crack no matter what he did to her. Her loyalty to Bakura ran too deep. Perhaps that was it...it was quite possible that he had gone after the wrong one, and doing so again would not yield any productive results. Seth had a few tricks up his sleeve, and he wasn't about to let his goal slip away. He wanted this done quickly so he could return to the afterlife where Kisara was waiting patiently for him.

…

Hours later the limo bearing Seth and Seto pulled up to the Kaiba mansion. Seto had worked quickly to pass Seth's similarities to himself as a cousin from his long-lost family that was related to him by blood. Surprisingly people hadn't questioned it. Getting out of the limo, Seto grunted lightly as Mokuba burst out of the front door and tackle-hugged him.

"Nii-sama! You're home!" Mokuba exclaimed happily.

Seto chuckled and stroked his little brother's unruly mane. "Yes I am. There's no need to squeeze me in two though, Mokie, I'm already duplicated."

"Seto? What do you mean by that?" Mokuba wondered.

"The pharaoh introduced me to my own yami today…he looks exactly like me except for slight differences in length and color of hair, and his eyes are darker," he explained.

Mokuba's eyes lit up. "When can I meet him?!"

Seto couldn't help but laugh softly. "If you'll let me get the limo door back open, he's in the limo. Mokuba, I must warn you though. Outside of our group of friends we introduce him as a cousin from our blood family."

"To people who aren't our friends he's a cousin of ours. Got it. Now can I meet him?" Mokuba demanded. Seto nodded and opened the door, letting Seth step out. Seth, meet my brother Mokuba. Mokuba, meet my yami…Seth."

"A pleasure to meet you, little one," Seth greeted Mokuba. Mokuba beamed and gave him a bear hug exactly like he did to Seto.

"I like him…can we keep him?"

"He will be staying with us, so I guess that would be a yes," Seto smiled before turning to the mansion. "Is Joey here?"

"Yeah. He decided to not come out. It would have impeded my fun," came Mokuba's reply.

Seto nodded and headed inside. "Puppy?" he called as Seth and Mokuba entered behind him.

"M'here. Welcome ho-oly shit there's two of you!" Joey exclaimed, coming out of the living room.

Seth rolled his eyes before Seto stepped forwards and gave Joey a kiss to shut up his stammering. "Puppy, there's not two of me…I'd like you to meet Seth…my yami," he introduced, "Seth, this is Joey…my boyfriend." Seto was slightly curious as to how Seth would deal with homosexuality. It suddenly occurred to him to tell Seth later bout Bakura's and Yami's relationship. _That_ wouldn't probably go over well which would mean all the more amusement for himself.

"Your yami? You mean he's like Atemu, Bakura, and Marik?" he asked, jumping when Seth chuckled softly.

"Only in the aspect of having a reincarnation, Joey," he explained, gesturing to Seto to get his point across. "Those three are merely solid spirits. I, on the other hand, am truly alive meaning I have to eat and other normal tasks to keep myself healthy," he elaborated.

"How come you got to be alive when you were sent here?" Mokuba wondered.

"My spirit didn't have an item to hold me and sustain me. Yami has the puzzle, Bakura the Ring, and Marik claimed my item…the Millennium Rod." Hearing Seto's groan, Seth smirked and continued, well aware of Seto's dislike of the items. "So seeing as I couldn't be housed in the Rod, the gods had no choice but to give me my body back."

"That is so cool. How long are you here for?" Joey asked.

Seth grit his teeth. He was getting tired of the questions, not having the best patience to start out with. "Until my mission is done."

"Don't go there, puppy," Seto cut in, preventing Joey from asking more. "Seth told me he has a taboo that prevents him from telling his task to anyone except a select few. If he were to tell he'd be punished once he was able to return to the afterlife."

Joey nodded, seeming to understand and accept that. "So…when does he get to meet the group?"

That night found Seth on the roof of the mansion, stretched out, watching the stars. It had only been less than a day and he already missed Kisara. Reaching into his shirt, mentally cursing the feel of long sleeves on his arms, Seth pulled out a necklace and looked at it. Turning it, he smiled as the moonlight hit the silver metal, making the whole necklace gleam coldly, sparkling with small sapphires. It was easy to obtain precious metals and gems in the afterlife and Kisara had done so, fashioning the necklace to give Seth a little bit of comfort while they were apart.

"Kisara…I promise I'll return to you soon," he vowed, closing his hand around the necklace and looking up at the stars."

"Talking to yourself is never a good sign," came Seto's voice from behind him. Seth tipped his head back and looked at Seto who was standing there, a coat draped over his arm and holding two steaming mugs. "You shouldn't be up here without a coat in the fall, you could get sick," he told Seth, approaching and settling next to Seth.

Seth sat up and accepted the coat, putting it on, subconsciously sighing at the added warmth. "What's that?" he asked motioning to the mugs.

"Try it and tell me how you like it."

Taking a sip, Seth's eyes widened. "It's so….rich! what is it?"

Seto smiled and took a drink from his own mug. "It's called hot chocolate. I figured you'd like it. Most of the other Egyptians love it…I'm not sure about Rei though…maybe I should tell Bakura to have her try it," he mused.

"Rei is anorexic. I highly doubt she would drink much if any at all," came the answering snort.

"She is?" Seto blinked in surprise before returning to his hot chocolate. "Well, I guess that makes sense seeing how she's so thin….you didn't do that to her, did you?"

"Nay. Rei was like that before I had ever captured her to help with Bakura's capture."

Seto nodded and finishing his own mug, got up and headed for the door of the roof. "Come in when you get cold." Seth nodded and waited for Seto to close the door before smirking. Oh he knew better than to stay out in the cold without protection.

Shedding his coat, Seth stood and held his hands in front of himself, palms facing each other. Every time he used his magic, he would feel nice and warm until the magic faded…and he wasn't planning letting his magic die for a while. It was time to start his mission.

…

Rei had been sleeping peacefully and dreamlessly until she found herself standing in a pitch black void. 'Where am I?' she wondered, looking around. There was nothing in the void with her…no sound, no light, nothing…although she could still see clearly. Looking herself over proved that.

Suddenly the void was torn apart by a laugh that Rei was certain would haunt her for the rest of her existence…it was one of the last few sounds she had heard before being sealed in the shadow realm, and she wasn't surprised to hear it again.

"Priest! Show yourself!" Rei challenged, turning in all directions.

"As you wish," came a murmur in her ear. Rei jumped and whirled around before backing away from Seth, who had suddenly appeared right behind her.

"What do you want with me?" she demanded, trying to not show her fear.

"Why my dear thiefling. One would assume that you do not enjoy my company," he sneered, stepping closer, smirking when Rei stepped back clearly against her will.

"I refuse to let you get to me, Seth," Rei growled, her shadow powers flaring. She had become aware of the powers during her imprisonment, the shadow realm had settled deep within her, giving her control that may have the potential to be able to surpass Yami's control if she unleashed it all.

Seth merely chuckled, unafraid of the shadows swirling around Rei's clenched fists. After all, he created this void, he had say of what happened here. Smirking wider when the shadows flickered and died due to his influence on the realm, Seth crossed his arms.

"I don't need to get to you as you put it, thiefling. After all, I can just have this void do it for me," he replied smugly before fading away. Rei turned, looking around for him, emerald eyes scanning her surroundings.

Just as she was about to relax at him being gone, she let out a scream and cringed as her memories suddenly started playing themselves out around her. None of them, she managed to note, were soothing or comforting. Sinking down, Rei covered her ears with her hands, crying out as all of her scars, whether faded, gone, or still visible burned and hurt as if they were being re-opened simultaneously.

"…ei…Rei…Rei! Wake up!" she heard suddenly, causing her to snap awake and sit bolt upright in bed, sobbing freely.

Bakura frowned and shooed Ryou away, saying he'd handle it himself and pulled Rei into his arms, settling on her bed and rocking her like he used to do when they were young. He didn't say anything, merely worked on calming Rei down by rocking her and stroking her raven and bright blue hair, humming a soft melody from their past to her.

Rei slowly calmed down, keeping her death grip on Bakura's shirt while her sobs slowly gave way to hiccupping whimpers. "K-kura?" she asked.

"I'm here," Bakura replied softly, frowning further at the violent tremors that were shaking the poor girl. "Rei, what happened? You started screaming in your sleep."

"I-I don't know…I was d-dreaming that I was in a black void and S-Seth appeared. He taunted me and then vanished….Kura, he made me relive my bad memories…"

"Seth probably entered your dreams to torment you. That way I'd have no solid proof of him coming after you, him being able to claim that you merely dreamt it," Yami sighed from the doorway where he had been standing since Ryou had fetched him, the group having a sleepover downstairs. Entering the room, he perched on the edge of the bed. Now was not the time to have issues from the past hinder them. "Are you ok?"

Rei nodded shakily before flinching with a hiss as Bakura rubbed her back with the intention of being soothing. "That hurt," she whimpered.

Bakura and Yami exchanged looks before Bakura lifted the back of Rei's shirt and gasped. On the thin, almost bony frame, crisscrossing her back, were a series of whip marks, slowly bleeding as if they were freshly laid.

Way across town, on the roof of a mansion, Seth smirked, the smirk creepily illuminated by the glow of the orb of magic between his hands. "Now, my dear thiefling, the real game can begin."

A/N: Again, I apologize for the long, looooooooooooooong gap in posts. I had severe writers block. At least my ideas are starting to get steam under them again. Review please!


	18. Mission and ties revealed

A/N: All I'm saying is that I hate deadlocks/writers block

**As always;**

**Seeing as certain symbols don't like to show for me, things are a little complicated;**

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Bakura/

//Royko-Bakura to Ryou//

-Yugi to Yami-

--Yami to Yugi--

(Malik to Marik)

((Marik to Malik))

_(((Author's notes)))_

**Disclaimer: **Trust me, I don't own YuGiOh. I do, however own Rei.

**Recap: **Bakura and Yami exchanged looks before Bakura lifted the back of Rei's shirt and gasped. On the thin, almost bony frame, crisscrossing her back, were a series of whip marks, slowly bleeding as if they were freshly laid.

Way across town, on the roof of a mansion, Seth smirked, the smirk creepily illuminated by the glow of the orb of magic between his hands. "Now, my dear thiefling, the real game can begin."

**Now for the new stuff:**

About a half hour later found Bakura, Yami, and Rei in the kitchen, the latter two sitting at the table, Rei perched on the edge of her chair so that her freshly bandaged back didn't press against the seat. Both quietly watched Bakura angrily pacing, knowing that the former thief was just short of blowing up.

"Something has to be done about him," Bakura finally snarled, "I refuse to let him get away with tormenting Rei."

Yami sighed as an answer, drawing the siblings' attentions to himself. "If we knew what his reason for being here was, I could try to keep him away."

Rei buried her head in her hands at that. "Trying isn't good enough, pharaoh," she replied, "I don't know why he targeted me, I've done nothing to him."

"Seth's mission must involve you, Rei," Marik added in from where he had come from the living room, having not gone back to sleep at Ryou's explanation that Rei merely had a nightmare, "He doesn't attack so relentlessly unless you play a significant part."

"Then what do you propose?" Bakura snapped. He was tired and this stress about Seth wasn't making his mood any better.

"Put a shadow barrier around me," Rei decided suddenly. Seeing the three yami's eyes fall on her, Rei decided to elaborate, fidgeting only slightly. "Think about it. Seth doesn't have a link with the Millennium Rod now…it's Marik's. No item means no link to the shadows. Therefore logic would state that if I'm protected by shadow powers, Seth cannot break through and lay a hand on me."

Bakura thought about that before grinning and moving over to kiss Rei's forehead. "Brilliant," he praised, "I don't know why that didn't occur to me."

Rei smiled at the kiss before smirking. "Face it Kura, you tend to not use your brain while throwing a hissy fit."

Yami coughed to mask a laugh, hiding a smile behind his hand. At Bakura's dumbfounded look, he decided to go easy on Bakura and not tease him further. Standing he went to the thief and kissed his cheek, choosing to ignore the soft growl coming from Rei. Apparently she still didn't like the idea of Bakura being with him. Stepping back, he smiled a little as Bakura gave Rei a stern look, having heard the growl, Rei shrinking back a bit before boldly sticking out her tongue. "Bakura, you and Marik start making that shield for Rei," he said before turning and opening a shadow portal.

"And where do you think you're going? You're the strongest of us three, wouldn't you be better suited to help with the shield?" Marik asked, crossing his arms.

"If you'd like to go try to talk to Seth in my place and try to find out his reason for being here, then be my guest," he returned, smirking when Marik shifted and muttered a small 'no.' "That's what I thought. I'll reinforce the shield when I return." With that, Yami turned and stepped through the portal, the opening closing behind him. Time to track his cousin.

Yami found Seth in the room that Seto had given him. "Hello cousin," Seth greeted, looking up from a book he had found and had been starting to skim through it.

"Hello Seth," Yami answered, crossing his arms comfortably. "Seth, I would like to know why you're here. It's eating at me since I can't place a reason why you'd have come from the afterlife of all places and back to earth."

Seth sighed and set the book aside. He had been given permission to tell Yami about the mission, so maybe if Yami knew about it, it'd benefit himself in the long run. "Very well. The gods aren't happy, cousin. With Rei's sealing, she was supposed to remain there for all time. Now that she's escaped, the gods feel cheated. Since I was the one to originally capture her, I was tasked with either resealing her into the shadow realm or to bring her before the scales of judgment," he explained.

Yami felt his stomach drop at that. If Seth were to succeed it'd devastate Bakura, causing him to be torn. He didn't know whether to side with his love or with his cousin on this. "Why though? Why is it necessary to recapture her?" he wondered.

Seth shrugged. "It probably has something to do with upsetting the balance of the gods' order. I cannot return until my task is complete so I need to retrieve her…I wish to return to Kisara."

Frowning, Yami sat on the bed. "I cannot help you…for reasons that are my own. Even now Bakura and Marik are making it so that you can't cast spells on Rei anymore."

Well that was not what he had anticipated. That was fine then, breaking the little thiefling's mind would be far more fun this way. If he did it right, Rei would go with him for her own peace of mind. Hell, he'll make her plead to end the conflict. Senet game of fate? Most definitely.

"Being unable to use my magic on her matters not to me, Atemu. I have other methods."

With a sigh, Yami stood. "I hope you know what you're doing," he answered softly, turning to open a new portal.

"Cousin, why does it matter so much to you? You used to hate Bakura," Seth asked.

Yami turned to look at seth, an unreadable emotion in his eyes. "Bakura changed…he's different now. I do not wish to see him revert to the way he was in Egypt. Not to mention…" here Yami trailed off, suddenly unsure how seth would take the news.

"Not to mention what?" Seth asked. He had a feeling Atemu was hiding something from him. Whenever the younger cousin would do that, it never turned out good.

"…Nothing. Forget I said anything. I'll see you tomorrow Seth, my hikari is planning to have all our friends present to meet you. Try to leave Rei alone for now?" he responded. Not waiting for an answer, Yami entered the portal and made his way back to Bakura's side.

Seth gazed out the window, thinking. His cousin was hiding something, that much was obvious, and he wanted to know what. Seto wouldn't help him, if Seto was anything like himself, he'd just sit back and watch his yami struggle to figure out what wasn't being told to him. That only left one option, and he wasn't sure if it would work, seeing as it had been 5000 years since it was last done by him.

Concentrating his magic, Seth called forth his ka. Opening his eyes, he smiled at seeing Duos hovering before him. "Well I'm glad that worked. Duos, go find Mahaado in the realm of shadows. Tell him I request his audience," he commanded. Duos showed his acknowledgement and vanished into the shadow realm. He didn't have long to wait before a rift opened between realms and the Dark Magician stepped through, Duos vanishing as he sensed he wasn't needed further.

"Well, it's been a while since I've been summoned like this, and by you, no less," the Dark Magician told Seth, crossing his arms, "What did you want?"

"Mahaado, you remain close to my cousin. What is going on between him and Bakura?" Seth inquired.

Mahaado sighed and crossed his arms, tapping his staff against his leg idly. "It's not my place to say," he admitted softly, "The pharaoh is my master. I do not wish to betray him."

Seth frowned. The former mage always was loyal like a dog. "What can I offer you in return for what I want to know? Besides, I have no intention of telling him how I found out." Here Seth stood and circled the magician before stopping behind him and leaning forward to murmur in his ear. "If you agree to be my anonymous informant, I'll do anything you want…perhaps…grant you the ability to shed the armor from your appearance? The gods gave me many gifts to use to help me out. I know I can restore to you your previous image, brown hair and all."

Mahaado fought the shiver that went down his spine at feeling the breath on his ear. Seth always did have a way with words. He had to admit though, the offer held plenty of appeal. Then again, he had been taught by Akunadin how to speak persuasively. That thought was quickly followed by a hope that Akunadin was still suffering in the underworld and Ammit's digestive system before he squashed those thoughts and refocused his mind.

"Tell me what you wish to do with the information first," Mahaado replied, turning to regard seth cooly.

"Merely wanting to settle my curiosity. Anything you may tell me is for my own personal knowledge."

Something didn't sit right with Mahaado but he couldn't place it. Shrugging it off as overreacting, he nodded. "Very well, Atemu and Bakura became a couple not a year ago. Perhaps late spring, early summer? They've had very few fights and seem to get along well," he informed, watching Seth closely to gauge his reaction.

Seth didn't outwardly react except for raising an eyebrow. On the inside, though, Seth was seething. His cousin actually lowered his standards to be with that vile thief? It was official, Seth was pissed. Already his mind sprang to action, cooking up ideas for his mission using this new information. Returning his attention to Mahaado, Seth smiled and held out his hand. "Thank you mage, you've been a big help."

Mahaado warily took the offered hand and gasped as strong magic crashed against his. The foreign magic flowed through him and wherever it touched, got rid of the Dark Magician armor and replaced it with his priest appearance.

Seth maintained contact until the transformation was complete, a necklace appearing around the mage's neck in place of the Millennium Ring. "There. You are now able to change forms at will. Oh, and don't mind the necklace, it merely allows me to summon or call for you without having to go through Duos again."

Mahaado growled at being ensnared so simply. "Bastard," he snapped before vanishing back into the Shadow Realm.

"Not my fault you can't read between the lines and realize I was up to something," Seth replied softly to no one. Storing his new information away in his mind, Seth decided to get some sleep. Tomorrow looked promising entertainment wise.

…

"I still don't see why we have to be here," Bakura grumbled as the group assembled in a pizza parlor. Everyone was supposed to meet Seth today, much to both Rei's and Bakura's displeasure, seeing as they were forced to come along.

Yami sighed. "Look, the only reason you two are here is that if Seth tries something, I'll know immediately," he answered, glancing around idly at the group as they chatted and waited for Seto and Seth to arrive. Dropping his voice so only Bakura heard, Yami continued. "Rei seems happy right now, even though her back is still torn open from last night. I really don't want to see her hurt like that due to my cousin. Hopefully keeping you two near will alert me before the damage gets as bad as it did."

Bakura's expression softened at the admission and he followed Yami's gaze where it was focused idly on Rei. What he saw made a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. Malik and Marik were trying to get Rei to try soda while holding her captive on Marik's lap, Marik being careful of the concealed bandages. Rei was currently giggling softly at the bubbly feeling in her nose and mouth and trying to refuse more sips but failing miserably since Marik wouldn't let her escape.

As he watched his sister enjoying herself, he caught motion out of the corner of his eye. Sliding his gaze over, Bakura nudged Yami upon seeing Seth and Seto enter. Looking back to Marik, russet eyes met lavender eyes before MArik nodded and tapped Rei on the shoulder.

It was like a switch was thrown. Rei immediately stopped smiling and giggling and shifted into a less relaxed position. Good, she understood the message as well and was on alert now.

"How did you do that?" Yami wondered softly.

"Rei was my second and Marik was my third in command while I was the Thief King. We learned how to communicate through various forms of body language," Bakura murmured as the two newcomers came up.

"Wow. Talk about a blast from the past. Did you really have to dress him in your duelist kingdom attire, Seto?" Yugi wondered, causing most of the table to snigger.

"For your information, he picked it out himself. I'm taking him clothes shopping once we split from you dweebs," Seto retorted before looking at Seth. "I'm not bothering to recite names, you gained that all with that spell you cast this morning on me and Mokuba, so everyone who doesn't know him, meet my yami, Seth." Seto crossed his arms once he took a seat. Seth had cast a spell on him and Mokuba, at Mokuba's pleading Seto into agreeing to it, which copied knowldge from their minds that Seth deemed important. Even though Seto had agreed, more to just get Mokuba to stop begging, he didnt find the spell very necessary...not to mention it felt wierd which had put him into a fouler mood than what he had been in recently.

Seth nodded in response to the greetings, his eyes flicking from one person to the next. "Pleased to meet you all," he said finally, offering up a smile.

"Are you hungry Seth?" Yami asked as his cousin settled next to him, "We were waiting on you two to show up before ordering. So the pizza would be nice and hot…"

"And also so there'd actually be some for you, lest these two gluttons eat it all," Tea added, motioning to Joey and Tristan, both of which grinned sheepishly.

Seth let out a small chuckle. "Your foresight is appreciated," he answered before tipping his head. "So…what is this…pizza?"

A/N: Okay, after being at a deadlock, I finally had to end it there. Which means my lovely readers can help me out by giving me input! What do you want to see my lovely villain named Seth do to the siblings, namely Bakura? (You'll see why I want to target him) your thoughts would be lovely.


	19. IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

**ATTENTION!** I've had a huge change come to my life, something I long thought secure (over half my life) has come crashing down around me leaving me hurt and vulnerable. And thus, I lost one of my reasons to write. PLEASE, I don't want to stop writing my fics, but I need to know. Who wants me to continue writing? This isn't just for Hidden Secrets, but for my hobby as an authoress.

I need a new inspiration so if you want me to continue with my fics and writing in general, drop me a review on Hidden Secrets or message me. If I get enough support I will write for you guys but right now, going on what I have for support inside me…my future as a writer looks doubtful.

You guys have the power…I leave my fate in your hands.


	20. shopping and the truth revealed

A/N: Thank you to all of you who reviewed and let me know I have support where I wasn't expecting. It means a lot to me. After a month break I decided to continue this story, so without further ado, I present the next chapter of Hidden Secrets.

**As always;**

**Seeing as certain symbols don't like to show for me, things are a little complicated;**

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

/Ryou to Bakura/

/Royko-Bakura to Ryou/

-Yugi to Yami-

-Yami to Yugi-

(Malik to Marik)

((Marik to Malik))

_(((Author's notes)))_

**Disclaimer: **Trust me, I don't own YuGiOh. I do, however own Rei.

**Recap: **"Are you hungry Seth?" Yami asked as his cousin settled next to him, "We were waiting on you two to show up before ordering. Just so the pizza would be nice and hot…"

"And also so there'd actually be some for you, lest these two gluttons eat it all," Tea added, motioning to Joey and Tristan, both of which grinned sheepishly.

Seth let out a small chuckle. "Your foresight is appreciated," he answered before tipping his head. "So…what is this…pizza?"

**Now for the new stuff:**

After lunch, the group decided to head to the local mall and look around as well as get Seth some clothes of his own. Bakura and Rei had been about to make their escape when Seto extended the invitation to them, offering to buy Rei some more clothes. They had grudgingly accepted and went to the mall with everyone else.

"You know you two don't have to walk around with them. I'd come with you," Yami murmured to Bakura as they rode in the limo.

Bakura sighed slightly and was about to answer when Rei, who had preferred Bakura's lap to the plush leather seats, answered before him. "We know, however if we stay with the group, we can keep an eye on Seth and maybe we can figure out why he's here. It's been eating at me since last night," she replied softly, Bakura nodding in agreement.

Yami mulled it over and nodded. "Makes sense, all I ask is that you two behave. And don't worry, I'm going to be telling Seth the same thing," he agreed. He'd keep his knowledge of why Seth was here to himself. He had a gut feeling the siblings would find out eventually. All he hoped was that Bakura wouldn't get pissed at him for not telling him sooner.

When the group got to the mall and started walking, trying to decide what store to go into first, Seth dropped back to talk to Bakura. "So tell me Bakura," he started after noting that Rei was walking farther ahead with the blondes, "Why exactly do you care about Rei?"

Bakura frowned at that question. "Because she's my sister," he answered warily.

"You're not blood related though."

"It matters not if we're related by blood or not. We grew up together and I took care of her. That's what siblings do," Bakura replied with a small, irritated snort.

"So you trust her then?" Seth questioned, trying not to start smirking.

That made Bakura scoff. "Of course I trust her. I trust her with my life."

"Pity it doesn't seem like she holds that much trust in you. Tell me, has she ever told you of what happened in her captivity?" Here Seth let a small smirk appear. Bakura had walked right into it. At Bakura's hesitation, Seth smirked wider. "I didn't think so." Before Bakura could come up with a reply, Seth had walked away to return to Seto's side.

"What was that all about?" Yami asked, dropping back to walk with Bakura once Seth was back with his hikari, the two brunettes starting to discuss what Seth's clothing style would be. Reaching out to hold Bakura's hand, Yami gave him a curious smile.

Bakura sighed and gave Yami's hand a little squeeze. "It was nothing, koi. Seth was just trying to be a bigger prick than normal." To himself, though, Bakura couldn't help but wonder if what Seth said was true.

…

"Are we done yet?" Rei wondered tiredly from her perch on Marik's back. They had been shopping for at least two hours and Rei was starting to hate the mall. It had not gone over well when Tea had said that Rei would look cute in preppy clothes, having totally missed Rei looking at the display in the window with disgust. Rei had almost hit her right then and there had Yami not caught her wrist as she had started to draw it back.

Seth looked over at Rei with a slight smirk. "Is the little thiefling worn out by merely walking around for a while?" he sneered.

"Shut up Priest, I don't have the energy that most people do. Not to mention I didn't sleep well last night due to a certain someone," came the answering growl, Rei not bothering to lift her head from Marik's shoulder to add a glare to the statement.

"Touchy, touchy."

"Seth, leave her alone," Yami sighed, "What's next on the list, Kaiba?"

Seto looked at the list that they had made up to make shopping easier. "Well, all that's really left is shoes for both of them…not that we need this many people to go shoe shopping," he answered, glancing around at the group.

"We understand," Duke answered with a dismissive wave, "Come on guys, let's go to the arcade. I bet I can beat you in that racing game, Joey."

"Nu-uh! You're on Dice boy!" came Joey's retort as the others laughed and followed the two, leaving Seth, Seto, Bakura, Yami, Rei, Marik, and Malik watching them walk off.

"You know Kaiba, seeing as you're paying and all, you can always give us one of your credit cards and let us go shoe shopping so you and Seth can go look around some more. I noticed you didn't get much opinion as to where we should go," Bakura offered hopefully.

Seto merely rolled his eyes at that. "Do you think I was born yesterday or something? I do not trust you with my card, Thief," he retorted.

"Aww, I'm hurt. Don't you trust Yami though?" Bakura asked. Setting his face into a pout, he tried not to smile as Rei giggled and Marik chuckled.

"Ha, no. He'd be more likely to slip off to a leather store."

"Hey!"

Seth chuckled softly at that. "Well, my cousin does like his clothes," he supplied

"Whatever," Yami huffed and started towards one of the shoe stores, everyone falling into step behind him.

…

Bakura entered his and Ryou's home later carrying Rei, Yami following behind with the purchases for her. Rei had fallen asleep on the car ride from the mall, soothed by the gentle motion of the limo.

"If she falls asleep this easy all the time in cars, I now know what to do on nights when she can't sleep," Bakura murmured to Yami as he set Rei down on the couch, smiling softly when Rei cuddled into the soft cushions contently.

Yami smiled as he set down the bags in an out of the way spot. "If you had a car then I'd say go for it." Here he paused to chuckle. "Then again, I might be afraid of seeing you doing crazy stunts in a car."

Bakura smiled and came over to give Yami a soft kiss. "Nah, cars aren't as maneuverable as motorcycles so I'd have to be good," he replied.

Yami shook his head with another smile. He would have replied but he paused when his deck pulsed, grabbing his attention immediately. Reaching into the deck holder on his belt, Yami pulled out his deck, frowning slightly as it pulsed again.

"Whats wrong?" Bakura wondered, noticing the frown on the former pharaoh's face.

"One of my monsters wants my attention," he murmured, flipping over his deck and starting to thumb through the cards. As he went through his deck, the pulse got stronger until he stopped on the Dark Magician.

"The mage? You should go then, Yami. You know he wouldn't do this unless it was important," Bakura supplied, leaning forward to give the shorter male a quick kiss. "Go. I'll go put Rei to bed and put her new stuff away while you go see what he wants."

Yami gave a small nod and after returning the kiss, took a step back, and vanished into the shadow realm.

Once Yami was gone, Bakura turned and grabbed the shopping bags and carried them up to Rei's room, putting the clothes away in the closet before heading back downstairs to collect his sister, hoping to not wake her.

Rei stirred as she was scooped up gently and slowly opened her eyes as Bakura climbed the stairs. "mmm 'kura?"

"Well hello there, sleepyhead," he teased, looking down into sleepy emerald eyes. "Did you have a good nap?"

Rei nodded and stretched with a yawn. Bakura carried her into her room and laid her down on the bed before sitting next to her. "How does your back feel?" he asked, looking over at Rei.

Rolling onto her side, Rei thought about it. "It feels better," she answered after a moment, "my powers are speeding up the healing."

"That's good…I'm glad," Bakura murmured before chewing on his lip in thought. "Hey Rei? Do…do you trust me?"

"Of course," Rei answered without hesitation, sitting up and frowning slightly. "Why would you even need to ask that?"

Bakura shifted uncomfortably. "Its…Damn it, I knew that I shouldn't have asked." Sighing, Bakura ran a hand over his face and took a deep breath. "It's…it's just that Seth approached me when we were in the mall. He said that you didn't trust me since you never told me about your captivity….that you didn't trust me enough to share the knowledge," he elaborated.

Rei flinched and a haunted look came over her face. "My captivity in the palace was one of the worst things to ever happen to me, Bakura. Since I was locked away in the shadow realm shortly after the time in captivity, I never had a chance to get my mind off it and bury the past with memories. I promise I'll tell you one day, but…just not now."

Bakura was silent, processing that before he swooped his sister into a tight hug. "I forgot that you were sealed right after. I'm sorry Rei, Seth just unsettled me. I'll wait for you to decide when to tell me." Bakura didn't want to see Rei with that expression again. Thus, he'd try his best to not let Seth provoke it out.

"It's ok," Rei replied, snuggling to her brother, "Though, I think I just figured out Seth's game."

"You did? What is it?" Bakura straightened and stared at his sister. Now he was intrigued.

Rei thought and pieced together her reasoning. "I…think he wants to recapture me. I mean, I can't think of any reason why he'd willingly leave the afterlife except for the gods commissioning him to do the one thing that others couldn't do. Only he was able to capture me, which in turn allowed him and the pharaoh to capture you."

"…That must be what he meant by him not going back until his task is complete. I won't let him take you again, Rei, I swear it." Bakura vowed. In this time, he had the advantage since Seth knew far less about this time than Bakura did. If he did this right, Seth wouldn't be able to get near enough to Rei to complete his mission.

…

Meanwhile, Yami was in the Shadow Realm looking for the Dark Magician. Glancing down at the card in his hand, Yami sighed as it pulsed and tugged as if to lead him on. "Can't you come to me?" he muttered. After another minute of walking, Yami stopped in surprise as the card flew out of his hands and hovered in mid-air. Nothing happened for a minute before it glowed and the Dark Magician appeared out of the card.

"Flashy," Yami commented, smiling at his long time companion, "Though, why all the precaution, Mahaado?"

Mahaado sighed "I figured privacy was best for this conversation. Seth has found out about yours and Bakura's relationship. He deceived me and got it out of me. Atemu, I fear that he'll use the knowledge to his advantage," he replied.

Yami mulled over this. "That's not good. Don't worry about that though, I'll figure something out. Does Set have anything planned, do you know?"

"He plans to use me as an informant, that's the extent of my knowledge."

"Hmm." Thinking a bit more on it, Yami realized that there was a possibility to turn this against Seth. "Mahaado. Would you mind being a double agent?" he asked.

Mahaado blinked in surprise. "I…you mean like sharing information with you?" Giving it a little bit of thought, Mahaado decisively nodded. "Sure. I'll report in what Seth is planning, he deserves it for deceiving me."

Yami nodded, knowing that he could trust his friend. "Thank you Mahaado. Keep me updated," he replied. Mahaado nodded and disappeared back into his card, the card hovering for a moment before sinking down back into Yami's hand. Placing the card back into his deck, Yami turned and made his way out of the Shadow realm. Emerging back into Bakura's house, Yami took a minute to reorient himself before heading upstairs.

A quick peek into Rei's room proved her to be asleep and Bakura nowhere in sight. Moving on to Bakura's room, Yami opened the door and found Bakura standing at the window looking out over the backyard. As Yami closed the door quietly, Bakura turned to face him, eyes almost glowing from the effect of the moonlight reflecting off them. "That's…kind of a creepy effect," Yami commented, trying to lighten the serious look on Bakura's face.

Bakura didn't smile and instead a small frown flitted across his face. "How long?" he asked softly, so softly that Yami almost missed it.

"How long? How long for what?" Yami wondered, gaining a sinking feeling in his stomach. The look on Bakura's face and his own instinct were telling him that this was not going to be a pretty discussion. Something must have happened while he was in the shadow realm, whether Seth had made another attempt or something had happened between the siblings.

Bakura's eyes slid closed for a moment as if he were steeling himself before he opened his eyes again. "How long have you known that Seth was here to retrieve Rei and seal her away again?" he demanded, his face transforming into a sharp scowl.

This wasn't good. Yami winced slightly at the piercing stare that was targeted at him and fought not to fidget. He had been dreading this and had been hoping to come to Bakura and tell him in a 'guess what Mahaado told me' sort of way. Deciding that the truth would be best right now since his small and slight reactions wouldn't have gone unnoticed, Yami sighed and lowered his gaze slightly. "Since last night," he answered. All that he could do now was hope that Bakura didn't snap and try to do something irrational.

Why was he not surprised? Gaze narrowing, Bakura spoke again, the fury inside of him leaking out in a bit of a hiss. "And you were planning on sharing this bit of knowledge _when_? You've been acting different all day and now I know why. What were you going to do, sit by and let him snatch my sister and just say 'that's life' or 'she deserved it?'" As he had spoke, Bakura's voice had raised in a crescendo to the point where he was just shy of shouting.

In reaction to Bakura's anger, Yami felt his own anger start to rise. "I was waiting for some time where we weren't near Seth or Rei so I could let you know and see what you wanted to do to keep them apart," he snapped, "You believe that I'm planning on helping Seth but that's far from the truth. As much as I'm glad to see my cousin again, I have not joined his side. Even when we were alive I never agreed to him capturing Rei in the first place just to use her as bait."

"If you have never agreed with his tactics, why didn't you stop him?" Bakura spat, "Rei has suffered much at his hands, all because you never told him 'no' and then sealed her away!"

"I never knew and still don't know what exactly he did to her," Yami growled, the Sennen eye on his forehead faintly flickering to life. He wasn't going to do anything, though, unless Bakura made the first move. "And I sealed her away not as part of getting to you, but she had become a traitor to Egypt in her own right. I don't know how much you knew about her actions but she dug her own grave."

Bakura jolted slightly. He had known what Rei did, she had been his second in command after all. Turning away to look out the window, Bakura closed his eyes. "Leave Pharaoh."

"Bakura…I…" Yami didn't get a chance to continue before he was forced to dodge a dagger that Bakura had thrown. Looking into the furious russet eyes, Yami sighed and turned to go. "I hope we can talk about this after you cool down," he murmured before leaving the room and heading downstairs to leave. As he reached the front door, he turned due to feeling eyes on him. Looking up towards the second floor, he smiled sadly at seeing Rei watching him quietly from the head of the stairs. She must have woken due to the raised voices.

"Make sure your brother doesn't do anything stupid," he requested. Rei blinked before nodding as she turned and disappeared into Bakura's room. Yami didn't wait around to see if anything would happen. Instead he left the house and walked out into the night, making his way towards the game shop.

A/N: My lovely villain named Seth is starting to put his plan into motion. If anyone has ideas about what Bakura and Yami can fight about next, lemme know?


End file.
